PIRATES VS. CANCER
Pirates Vs. Cancer raises more than $52K to help fight pediatric cancer
Stefani Funez spends most of her days trying to entertain herself in a hospital room.
This has been the case for the 15-year-old Duplin County resident since she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) a few months ago.
Friday afternoon was different for the eighth grader, however, as she smiled, laughed and shaved a bunch of strangers’ heads.
“This was fun, because I don’t really get out that much,” she said. “It was a blessing.”
The opportunity was made possible by the 3rd annual Pirates Vs. Cancer fundraiser, a student-run event that unites students and staff from across East Carolina University’s health sciences campus, as well as other ECU undergraduates and staff, for the purpose of raising money to fight pediatric cancer.
More than 60 participants had their heads shaved or hair cut this year en route to raising more than $52,000, all of which will go to the James and Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville.
This year’s total crushed the roughly $32,000 that was raised in 2017 and 2018 – combined.
“The student leaders this year, all of the community partners and everyone ECU came together to make this happen,” said Trevor Hunt, a third-year medical student who founded the event during his first year at the Brody School of Medicine. “We’re just happy with the impact that it could make in the local community for those cancer patients.”
Collaborating for a cause
This year’s Pirates Vs. Cancer event highlighted the value of interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaboration, a common theme within ECU’s Division of Health Sciences and effective health care teams.
The medical students raised about the same amount as they did in 2018, Hunt said, but this year’s fundraising boost was due in large part to an increase in the number of other students who got involved, particularly from the College of Nursing, School of Dental Medicine and College of Allied Health.
A pediatric cancer patient helps shave a participant’s head during the 3rd annual Pirates Vs. Cancer event.
“This shows that when you get together different entities from the community, different degree programs here at ECU and being interprofessional, you can accomplish a lot more than you can alone,” Hunt said.
First-year dental student Victoria Hardy raised approximately $560 and donated about nine inches of her hair to the non-profit organization Children With Hair Loss as part of this year’s event.
“Everybody needs to smile,” Hardy said about the fun-filled event. “This is a nice break for all of us to come together to do something nice for the community and the patients can interact with us, so it’s great to see them out here.”
Bob LaGesse, the chief operations executive of ECU Physicians, gladly hopped onto the stool when his name was called.
“I’m a cancer survivor and I had a niece who did not survive cancer, so I was very happy to participate in this,” LaGesse said. “This event is wonderful and I think the more that we can do of this kind of thing on campus, the better.”
Funez operated the electric clippers for most of LaGesse’s buzz cut.
“That was absolutely awesome,” LaGesse said. “She did a wonderful job. As a matter of fact, she did a better job than the barber!”
Garrett Berk deals with losing his hair during the 3rd annual Pirates Vs. Cancer fundraiser.
Taylor McKeown, Emma Furgason and Ruba Raza stuff animals for pediatric cancer patients.
A patient helps shave the head of first-year medical student Ross Masters.
A story of hope
First-year medical student Collin Johnson was a junior biology major at North Carolina State University in January 2016 when he started experiencing strange chest pains.
At first, the Clinton native thought he had just pulled a muscle at the gym. When the pain lingered, he had it checked out by his family physician. A subsequent CT scan revealed a mass in his chest about the size of a tennis ball.
For the next several months, Johnson endured a difficult chemotherapy regime to combat Hodgkin lymphoma.
“It was a very grueling experience,” he said. “I went to the doctor about twice a week. I had a port put in that they would do the chemotherapy through. I had infusions for about four hours a day and then for about two weeks after that you just feel lousy, drained and sick all over. But I was lucky enough to pull through.”
The experience is one of the reasons why Johnson, who was declared in remission in July 2016, decided last year – before he was officially a Brody student – that he wanted to be part of Pirates Vs. Cancer.
He did not, however, shave his head.
Jenny Song makes a face waiting to get her hair cut during the Pirates Vs. Cancer event.
Participants helped to raise more than $52,000 to fight pediatric cancer by shaving their heads and cutting their hair.
Ruba Raza reacts after having her hair cut during Pirates Vs. Cancer.
“I had to shave my head a few years ago when I went through chemotherapy, so it was kind of a soft spot for me. So I figured I’d help out in other ways. Hopefully share my story and give some kids hope as they go through what they’re going through,” said Johnson, who served as vice president of the Pirates Vs. Cancer leadership team.
“It’s just special to be a part of such a wonderful group of people with everyone working together,” he said. “It really shows you the value of teamwork, hard work and the community that we have around us.”
Johnson said he always thought about being a family doctor, but that his cancer experience removed any doubt.
“It kind of transformed from an interest into a passion and a calling,” he said. “It’s a lot different going through it yourself. So now I’d like to think I’ll have the knowledge base to be a doctor through school, but that I’ll also have the experience to go along with it, and I just hope that will make me a more compassionate physician.”
–For more information about Pirates Vs. Cancer or to donate click here.
