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Group helps families hurt by cancer COLUMBUS -- Friday's rally against pediatric cancer was an emotional event for Ivy Ervin of Mansfield. Ivy lost her son, Luke, to the disease in July. "Even last year, it was still tough, because he wasn't doing well and you've been down the same road before," she said. "But it's good and bad, good because you know people here who have gone through the same thing. "(The disease) is random. There's no cure for it. There's no reason, either." Friday's event, hosted by the support group Kids 'N' Kamp, drew about 150 families and friends of pediatric cancer victims to the Statehouse's west lawn. June Palm, coordinator for the group, said the goal of the annual rally was not only to give families a chance to comfort each other, but to raise awareness of the increasingly common disease. The group also offers grief counseling, special events for young victims and their siblings and family activities. "So many people, if they haven't been touched by this, don't even know that kids can be diagnosed with cancer," she said. About one in every 330 Americans will be diagnosed with cancer before the age of 20, according to National Childhood Cancer Foundation. That translates into about 11,000 cancer cases in children and young adults each year -- and about 2,300 deaths. Ervin's son was only 18 months old when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and barely 3 years old when he died. She broke down as she described his passing but managed to compose herself when she spoke about the support Kids 'N' Kamp has given to her family. "It's a good group for pulling together different resources," she said. "But most important, it gives you a link to help, a tie-in with other families like yours." Carrie Crumbliss, also a Mansfield resident, spoke at the rally about how difficult it was for herself, her husband and her three sons to cope with her daughter Samantha's cancer diagnosis in 1999 at age 5. "This news brought our normal world crashing down," she said. "We felt helpless, but not hopeless." Today, Samantha is alive and Crumbliss has become a supporter of Kids 'N' Kamp for its help and an advocate for more research into pediatric cancer. Dr. Dave Schuller, director of The Ohio State University's Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital, said researchers have made dramatic strides over the last two decades in combating childhood cancer. In the 1960s, the cure rate hovered around 25 percent; today it is closer to 70 percent. "Research makes a difference and is going to make a difference with this disease," he told the families Friday. "But it is woefully under-funded. The bottom line is this is about people, and this is about children." Friday's event also featured a wall of construction paper hearts bearing the names of families affected by childhood cancer and quilts with photos of 25 Ohio children who have died from cancer this year. Beverly Circone, founder of Kids 'N' Kamp, said her goal with the group is to give families a place to turn when tragedy strikes. "All of us would do whatever it takes to save the children," she said. By Leo Shane III Other KNK Press Room Links:
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