Times Colonist health reporter Cindy Harnett had another heart-warming update about four-year-old Hannah Day, who recently returned to her Langford home, celebrating 100 days cancer-free after battling the disease for two years. Hannah is my junior rider and I'll be thinking of her brave fight on Sunday when the Tour de Rock team tackles our biggest challenge yet: Riding Mount Washington.
It's 20 kilometres of climbing, or the equivalent of riding up the Saanich Observatory 10 times (The most we’ve ever done is one-and-a-half). I'm told the first four kilometres are excruciatingly steep and the final 16 kilometres are just very steep. It’s likely to take at least two hours and the temperature is set to be in the 30s, which for Vancouver Island is a veritable heat wave. To say I'm nervous would be an understatement. Nightmares about furiosuly pedalling while going nowhere or visions of myself keeled over in the bushes slowly perishing of dehydration and shame are more like it.
But reading about Hannah twirling around her house like a ballerina, and finally enjoying life as a kid after so many painful days in a hospital bed, that’s all the inspiration I need to make the climb. Each cyclist will be thinking of their junior rider and of past junior riders like Baby Molly and Baby Madrona who lost their fight.
Here's Cindy's story:
Hannah Day is no longer bald, she can pirouette like a ballerina, and she likes to show off how fast she can run.
“Her hair is growing in and she’s smiling more and enjoying life the best she can,” Brooke Ervin, Hannah’s mother, said Thursday.
The four-year-old Langford girl developed leukemia as a result of radiation treatments used to eradicate another cancer, rhabdomyosarcoma. In March, in what was considered a Hail Mary attempt to save her life, Hannah had a bone marrow transplant using her mother’s stem cells.
Results from a bone marrow biopsy performed in late June show no trace of the cancer, Ervin said, and Hannah is growing stronger every day
“It’s so cute to see her do the things she couldn’t do before,” Ervin said, describing how Hannah runs around the house. “She spins in a circle like a ballerina. It’s cute to see how strong she’s got.”
Hannah, who has been bald since her cancer treatments began two years ago, is also enjoying about a quarter-inch of hair, dark like her mom’s. Fashion has also emerged as a concern, as Hannah dresses her younger sister, Hailey, each day. On Thursday, the girls were both wearing Superman shirts.
But trying to readjust has been challenging.
Hannah, who returned to Vancouver Island on June 27, was scheduled for monthly checkups at B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. That has been increased to weekly visits after Hannah was inadvertently exposed to the sun and got a mild sunburn.
Sun exposure can cause graft versus host disease, which Hannah has previously dealt with, to flare up. The disease causes donated cells to attack the recipient’s body.
“She’s not allowed in the sun or to go outside,” Ervin said.
The new schedule is a hustle for Ervin, who must also take Hannah to Victoria General Hospital each week.
Otherwise, the family is adjusting to their new normal of life outside hospital, and Hannah’s dad, Robert Day, has returned to work full time as a welder/fabricator.
“Hannah’s starting to feel like she’s our child again and belongs to us,” Ervin said. The young girl has lost weight now that she’s off steroids, and doctors are decreasing the dosage of the 12 oral antibiotics she consumes daily.
“She’s fabulous — smiley and laughing,” Ervin said. “She just keeps staring at me and smiling. It’s hard not to get teary.”
It's hard not to feel like you can do anything after reading about this brave little girl. Thanks for the inspiration, Hannah. This ride is for you.
Katie DeRosa is one of the media riders for this year’s Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock, a 13-day bike ride from Port Alice to Victoria. Follow DeRosa's blog for details about the ongoing training, leading up to full coverage of the ride Sept. 20 to Oct. 3. To donate to her fundraising campaign, click here.
