Editorial: New law in South Elgin boy's name calls for better testing for kids with cancer
We first got to know Cal Sutter through his parents in July 2005.
The energetic 12-year-old, both a fan of baseball and a solid player, had been picked to play on his South Elgin Little League team's All-Star squad.
About that same time, he was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. He would never get to play in the big game, because he was stuck in the hospital bed.
Despite an incredible outpouring of support in his neighborhood and beyond and the efforts of his doctors, Cal would last just 13 months. He died on Aug. 28, 2006.
But his story didn't end there. Out of the tragedy, his family the following year established Cal's Angels, a pediatric cancer foundation that ever since has raised money, granted wishes, promoted awareness and funded research.
It started a movement in the fight against childhood cancers.
Cal's family has never given up, never stopped fighting the disease that stole him from them.
Cal was a caring boy. He would have appreciated the giving he inspires still today.
He has even inspired a new law named for him. Gov. JB Pritzker signed it last week on the 15th anniversary of Cal's death.
The law ensures that children who are diagnosed with cancer are approved for comprehensive cancer tests, including DNA sequencing, based on the advice of their doctors, and not on the prior authorization of insurance companies.
To date, that's done almost exclusively for adults. It can help to tailor treatments and save some of the horrors of radiation and chemotherapy that might not do any good.
It's estimated that more than 10,500 children younger than 15 in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer this year, according to cancer.net.
Cal's Angels is thrilled with the new law. But its efforts won't end there.
"We will continue to make this a priority in every state moving forward," Cal's stepmother and Cal's Angels co-founder and President Stacey Wahlberg said in a news release. "The approved legislation is an incredible tribute to Cal and a natural extension of the work we do at Cal's Angels. We believe that by providing greater access to diagnostic testing for kids with cancer, lives can be saved."
The bill's sponsor is Seth Lewis, the freshman House member from Bartlett who, as it happens, started his oversight of Bartlett's Little League program next door to South Elgin the year Cal's Angels was formed.
"As a freshman legislator, I wanted to hit the ground running, advocating for legislation that makes a difference in people's lives," Lewis said.
We hope it makes a difference, too.
To learn how you can help, visit calsangels.org.