Carolyn Hendrix, a 5-year-old cancer patient from Pensacola, Florida, is using social media in hopes of raising money for childhood cancer research, by promoting a St. Baldrick’s Foundation Shave-a-Thon.
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding research to find cures for childhood cancers.
The charity regularly sponsors head-shaving events to raise funds for childhood cancer research. Events take place in pubs, restaurants, schools, churches, parks, malls, military bases, and firehouses.
According to Carolyn’s Facebook page, Praying for Carolyn, last May, while on vacation with her family she began complaining of a stomach ache. The day after they returned home, her parents, Jeff and Kathryn Hendrix, took Carolyn to her pediatrician who, suspecting appendicitis. She was sent for a CT scan to confirm.
However, Carolyn Hendrix was not suffering from appendicitis. Instead the scan revealed a cancerous tumor around her eleventh and twelfth rib, pressing against the liver and kidney.
Carolyn Hendrix was subsequently diagnosed as Ewings Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.
Ewings Sarcoma affects approximately 250 children and adolescents each year. Typically it is found more in males than females and in children who are between the ages of five to 20.
While Carolyn was fortunate that her cancer was discovered in stage 1, her treatment, which is nearing its final course, required nine months of inpatient five-day chemotherapy every two weeks. She also had the tumor surgically extracted one-third of the way through her treatment plan.
Carolyn and her family are now hosting a St. Baldrick’s Foundation Shave-a-Thon to raise money for childhood cancer research. They have set a $300,000 goal. Carolyn is asking folks to join in using Facebook and Twitter to spread the word.
They are also trying to convince professional golfer Bubba Watson, as seen in the tweet, to participate in the St. Baldrick’s Foundation Shave-a-Thon, but he has yet to respond.
@bubbawatson Please Bubba!!!! #prayingforcarolyn #stbaldricks #cancer #pensacola pic.twitter.com/YaXcEe3oWi
— Carolyn Hendrix (@praying4carolyn) April 20, 2014
If you would like to help Carolyn Hendrix reach her fundraiser goal, click here. You can sign up to get your head shaved or donate to someone who is shaving their head. The fundraiser is set for Sunday, June 22 before the Blue Wahoos game at Blue Wahoos Stadium in Pensacola, Florida.
[Photo Credit: Praying for Carolyn – Carolyn featured on left]
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