The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

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Light The Night

Six-Year-old Serina Smith was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma when she was only four years old.

She was just one of the hundreds of patients, relatives and friends who came out to raise money and awareness for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society’s annual Light the Night Walk that took place at Penn’s Landing, on September 13th 2003.

Smith came with her mother and cousins, who were on hand to give information and support for anyone in need. Smith is currently in remission after nine months of chemotherapy. When asked how she was feeling recently, she simply smiled and shrugged.

The “Light the Night” walks aim to raise a quarter of a million dollars for the society’s mission to help patients battling Leukemia and Lymphoma.

A three mile walk around the area symbolized a memorial to the disease’s victims. White balloons were handed out to patients, red balloons to families and supporters.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society was launched in 1949 after the death of sixteen-year-old Robert Devillers. Family and friends of Robert then began raising money to find a cure for Leukemia and other related diseases. Currently, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society have 3 chapters in the tri-state area including Eastern PA, Southern N.J., and Del.

The Society has had an impressive impact on the battle against cancer related diseases in the past two decades, including major funding towards research of a new drug called “Gleevec”.

Introduced about two years ago, the drug has helped countless patients enter remission faster with almost no major side effects to date. It has also helped patients with advanced stages of cancer to survive, unlike with previous medicine.

Felice Kelem is the head of the Eastern PA Chapter. Kelem says this is the fifth year for Philadelphia’s participation in the “Light the Night” walks. She says the society’s aim is not isolated to just fund raising, but also to improve the quality of life for patients and their families through public and professional education, community service and advocacy.

80 percent of children suffering from acute lymphocyte leukemia have a life expectancy of five years. Death rates for children with leukemia have declined 57 percent over the past twenty years.

Leukemia is still the leading killer of children under the age of fifteen, and Lymphoma remains the biggest cancer related killer of both men and women under 35.

“We don’t want a single child to die from Leukemia or Lymphoma,” said James Gibson, the Foundation’s Chairman.

Every five minutes an American is diagnosed with a blood related cancer, an average of seven people per hour to die from such cancers.

Despite these facts, the general atmosphere at Penn’s Landing seemed to be one of hope, and almost celebration.

The event was not a eulogy, but rather served as a beacon of progress and continued support to the Leukemia and Lymphoma communities.