Family going bald to honor young cancer patient who died

GEORGETOWN, Ind. (AP) - Harper Wehneman didn't have a choice. The medicine required to treat her metastatic kidney cancer would cause hair loss. Once the chemotherapy began, her light brown locks fell out in clumps. Soon after, the young girl's head was as smooth as velvet.

The treatments proved too taxing for Harper's 9-year-old body. After an 18-month struggle with the disease, she died at Kosair Children's Hospital on Dec. 30, 2014.

But hope lives on through a loss of a different kind.

On Saturday, Harper's sister, Cadence Wehneman, will lose her hair. Unlike with her younger sibling, the decision to go bald is all hers. To honor Harper, the Highland Hills Middle School fifth-grader will join more than 40 family members, neighbors and friends in shaving their noggins for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, a charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for pediatric cancer.

"I don't think anybody should go through what my family and Harper's friends went through," Cadence told the News and Tribune (http://bit.ly/1F15eOT ).

Her father, Brian Wehneman, agrees. But that's not the only reason he gathered together a team for the upcoming head-shaving event. The Georgetown resident wants to remind others of his daughter's remarkable spirit.

"It's a way for us to remember and keep her legacy alive," Brian said. "Harper was always thinking about her friends that she had met through clinic or at Camp Quality. I know she'd be proud of us trying to raise money for other kids."

The need for research funding remains great. According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 15,000 kids in the America were diagnosed with cancer last year, making it the leading cause of disease-related death among children and adolescents.

Worldwide, the statistics are even more alarming. Every three minutes, a child is found to have the disease.

And while treatment options in the past 20 years have improved a child's chances of survival substantially - more than 90 percent of kids with common cancers now live - the effects of the poisonous medicines can last into adulthood.

The St. Baldrick's website reveals that by the time survivors turn 45, more than 95 percent of these kids will endure chronic health problems, while 80 percent will have severe or life-threatening conditions.

"Kids are constantly being diagnosed and dying because we don't have good therapies," Brian said. "And honestly, Harper died not because of the cancer. She died because of the treatment she received. The treatment and the complications that came from that are what killed her."

Making matters more difficult, pediatric cancer research receives a fraction of the funding given to adult cancers. According to St. Baldrick's, all types of childhood cancers combined receive just 4 percent of federal research funding. In addition, pharmaceutical companies who sponsor roughly 60 percent of drug development for adult cancers show little interest the pediatric form of the disease.

"Childhood cancer research is definitely underfunded," said Traci Shirk, the media and public relations manager for the St. Baldrick's Foundation. "Because of budget cuts and other things like that, the researchers and the research to be conducted relies on private foundations like the St. Baldrick's Foundation to be able to fill that funding gap."

Started by a group of friends in 1999, the nonprofit organization has donated more than $154 million to 329 institutions worldwide in search of better cancer treatments for kids. The only group in America that raises more money for this kind of research is the government-subsidized National Institute of Health.

Who is this St. Baldrick that's doing so much charitable work? He doesn't actually exist. A combination of St. Patrick's Day and the act of going bald resulted in the tongue-in-cheek name. The title also reflects the lively atmosphere found at the 1,300 events held annually nationwide.

"We say we raise money in a fun way for a serious cause," Shirk said. "Some people shy away from it because it's hard to think about or see. So our St. Baldrick's events are a way to bring the community together in a fun way and get people talking about the realities of childhood cancer and the lack of funding, and really give them a platform to make a difference."

Georgetown resident Brent Schmidt answered that call to change lives. A neighbor of the Wehnemans, Schmidt will shave his head for the first time in memory of Harper. At present, the father of two has raised $2,000 for the cause. To date, more than $27,000 has been donated to Brian, Brent and their 39 teammates.

"Hair is hair. It grows back. It's not that big of deal," Schmidt said. "I just want us to reach the goal in Harper's memory. She would want the best for all of us. I'm sure she would get a laugh out of all of us with our ugly bald heads."

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Information from: News and Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind., http://www.newsandtribune.com