Sara Stark is as active as any fifth-grader, sometimes more so.
When she is not holding down the forward position for her youth soccer team, the 11-year-old Vancouver resident is playing wing for a Hockinson community basketball squad that has not lost a game in three consecutive seasons.
Motivated, energetic and upbeat, Sara is a prime definition of the potential of youth. Which makes it that much harder to believe that she almost did not reach the promise of her young age.
Diagnosed with ependymoma, a rare intracranial brain tumor, before she turned 2, Sara underwent a 10-hour surgery at a local children’s hospital to address the abnormal growth.
“I have no memory of it,” said Sara, who attends Hockinson Heights Intermediate School.
IF YOU GO
What: St. Jude Around the World fundraiser dinner
When: 6-9 p.m. Saturday
Where: Pearson Air Museum in VancouverTickets: Individual: $125, table of eight: $1,000
On the Web: stjude.org/aroundtheworld
IF YOU GO
What: St. Jude Around the World fundraiser dinner
When: 6-9 p.m. Saturday
Where: Pearson Air Museum in VancouverTickets: Individual: $125, table of eight: $1,000
On the Web:stjude.org/aroundtheworld
Contact: Theresa Ripp, 800-954-5499, theresa.ripp@stjude.org
Contact: Theresa Ripp, 800-954-5499, theresa.ripp@stjude.org
Following the procedure, her mother, Christine Stark, was informed that there was good news and bad news. Good: the tumor was removed. Bad: it was malignant and likely to return.
The use of radiation would normally have been the next step for Sara, but she was too young to deal with the after-effects. And while chemotherapy was an alternative, it was not considered to be an end-all answer.
“It wasn’t good,” Christine said.
The Starks were forced to look outside the region for help. And that is when they found the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. There, the Starks discovered a cutting-edge world of medical research specifically designed to treat young children battling rare and dangerous forms of cancer.
The Starks temporarily relocated to Memphis on Jan. 2, 2001. Thirty-three radiation treatments followed, as did five years’ worth of moves back and forth between Vancouver and Memphis during three-month intervals. But Sara was eventually cured — an annual checkup once a year until she reaches 18 is now the only hurdle remaining in her way.
“She’s a complete success story,” Christine said. “Her cancer never came back; never recurred. She had no side-effects from the treatment. And you’d just never know that she’s been through a thing.”
To Tom Penn, former Portland Trail Blazers vice president of basketball operations, Sara’s success is a shining example of the important role St. Jude has played in the lives of thousands of cancer-stricken children since 1962.
Without the help of St. Jude, Sara would not likely be playing soccer and basketball today. And the fact that the Starks never received a bill for Sara’s treatment says everything about the state-of-the-art pediatric cancer research facility and its family-first ways.
“Their story is one I’ve heard many times before,” Penn said. “The local region offers no solution, so they search for an answer and find St. Jude.
“I’m so impressed by what a beautiful and complete girl Sara is. She was given a virtual death sentence, and St. Jude was able to preserve her life and mind.”
The effort to preserve future lives is at the heart of the second annual St. Jude Around the World fundraiser dinner. The charity event will be held from 6-9 p.m. Saturday at the Pearson Air Museum in Vancouver.
A wide variety of sports-related items will be auctioned, and special guests are expected. Tickets to the dinner are still available, and more information can be found on the internet at stjude.org/aroundtheworld.
“I always say that girls like Sara are trailblazers,” Penn said. “They go through the initial procedure so that others can follow.”
