PDF March 1, 2015 anything - pressfolios-production.s3.amazonaws.com

Issue Date: da/il/ysentinel

PORTRAIT

A

HOW WE GIVE

March 1, 2015

anything

to help

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CHRISTOPHER TOMLINSON/The Daily Sentinel

Delaney Clements, a 12-year-old battling stage 4 neuroblastoma, is shown here playing at Rocket Park. Delaney doesn't want anyone's pity, just their help in spreading knowledge on childhood cancers.

By ERIN MCINTYRE

The Daily Sentinel

Standing on a street corner with a cardboard sign is one of the more terrifying things Delaney Clements has ever done. Rushing into oncoming traffic to collect spare change and dollar bills from drivers was no small feat for the 12-year-old girl.

// Please see CLEMENTS, p. 4A

DELANEY CLEMENTS

Age: 12 Years in western Colorado: 12 (she's a native) One thing most people don't know about me: Delaney loves to sew and even made her own stuffed owl. She also loves to dance anywhere, anytime, and she and her sister Emma Jo like to dance-bomb people.

4A Sunday, March 1, 2015

Issue Date: da/il/ysentinel

PORTRAIT: How We Give

The Daily Sentinel

Photos by CHRISTOPHER TOMLINSON/The Daily Sentinel

Delaney Clements walks with her mother, Wendy Campbell, at Rocket Park. Campbell still remembers the things people did for their family in a time of need."When she got sick the first time, someone came over and cleaned our house, top to bottom," said Campbell. I'll never forget that."

CLEMENTS

// Continued from p. 1A

But apart from the physical dangers of flying the sign, the thing that

made her most uncomfortable wasn't the cars whizzing past. It wasn't

the drivers' stares at her hairless head and thin, birdlike frame. It

wasn't even the rush of being caught in the middle of Washington

D.C. traffic.

"I was

It was the asking that was the hardest.

Last November, Delaney pan-

handled with a sign that said

glowing like "Cureless, please help, God bless," and raised money for childhood cancer research, as

part of a campaign for a nonprof-

a Christmas it organization called Truth365. She found it difficult to seem so helpless, to look pathetic and

tree."

not smile at people. "Asking people for money with your eyes is scary," she said. She scurried toward cars stopped momentar-

DELANEY CLEMENTS ily in traffic, always cheerfully saying thanks as she clutched dollar bills from rolled-down

Remembering back windows and running back to the safety of the median.

to scan results

Begging for money to support cancer research took the Grand Junction girl one more step out-

side of her comfort zone. But for a child who has been staying one step ahead of cancer for four years, she's finding that comfort zone is increasingly a thing of the past.

It started when she was 8 years old. Delaney noticed she had a swollen, sore hip and blamed it on rigorous gymnastics. They waited to see if it improved, but instead, she crashed on her bike, which made it worse. After seeing an orthopedic surgeon, an MRI revealed that Delaney had cancer. At age 8, she was diagnosed with stage 4 neuro-

blastoma.

// Please see CLEMENTS, p. 5A

Issue Date: da/il/ysentinel

The Daily Sentinel

PORTRAIT: How We Give

Sunday, March 1, 2015 5A

CLEMENTS

// Continued from p. 4A

"I was glowing like a Christmas tree," she said, remembering back to the scan results. Today, telling the story of how it all happened and what kind of cancer she has is so routine, she tells it in an almost singsong voice, it's so memorized.

Life changed instantly for the family when Delaney began her first round of treatment, involving seven rounds of chemotherapy and 20 days of radiation. The last four years has revolved around the battle of cancer retreating and returning, praying for clean scans and re-evaluating treatment strategies. She's endured the roller coaster of relapses four times, lost her hair three times, and tries not to think about it too much. She doesn't dwell on disappointments.

She'd rather find a way to help other people in the same situation.

Delaney's family remembers the thoughtful things people did to help when they were still reeling from the diagnosis and the adjustment to life with her health needs. Delaney remembers people always offering to do something for them, but being so overwhelmed that they didn't know what to say.

"They would always ask whatever they could do to help," she said. "And you don't know what to tell them."

Delaney and her mom, Wendy Campbell, still remember the little things and the big things that people just stepped up and did for them without asking. The folks who surprised Delaney with a pink Barbie limo ride from the airport after she returned home from Denver for the first time when she first became ill. The meals brought to the house, the neighbors who helped with whatever needed to be done. The little leaguers who held a pancake breakfast fundraiser to help with her medical bills.

"When she got sick the first time, someone came over and cleaned our house, top to bottom," said Campbell, as she sorted laundry from suitcases piled in the hallway from their latest trip to Denver to see doctors. "I'll never forget that."

Remission was too short the first time. It lasted only six months, but during that hiatus from all the hospitals and the treatments and the doctors, Delaney thought of others living with cancer. She wanted to help with the little things, and the big things, that maybe they didn't know they needed or were too overwhelmed to ask.

"I knew what it was like," she said. "What I was going through was hard and I knew what they might need."

So she started Delaney Donates, a nonprofit with the mission of helping kids with cancer and families in need due to medical hardships. The organization puts together goody baskets for western Colorado families who are dealing with some sort of illness, with a special emphasis on kids with cancer. Maybe they know someone has to travel a lot for treatment, so they provide gas cards to help out. Campbell's biggest hope for the organization is that families in need of financial assistance with major medical expenses can have their bills paid. She knows what it's like to just not have the money to cover expenses for basic needs like housing ? the family had to file for bankruptcy and lost their home in 2013 due to financial hardship from medical costs and the strain of living between Grand Junction and Denver. They kept one thing from the house they walked away from, though -- the hot tub Delaney requested from the Make-a-Wish foundation instead of taking a trip to Disne-

CHRISTOPHER TOMLINSON/The Daily Sentinel

Delaney Clements started Delaney Donates, a nonprofit with the mission of helping kids with cancer and families in need due to medical hardships.

yland. The family's hope is that others don't have to go through the same horrible financial troubles and that they can help them with Delaney Donates.

Today, Mesa County firefighters help fundraise and distribute donations for the nonprofit. There's even a bright pink fire truck that Delaney gets to ride around in with the "cute firefighters."

Her assistance in raising money for cancer research and funds for families in need has led to her participation in advocating for awareness about childhood cancers and the need for additional funding and research. She's become a bit of a poster child for Truth365 and other campaigns, and has been on billboards recently for The Foundation For a Better Life's campaign.

Delaney doesn't really consider herself famous, and that's not a goal of hers. She'd rather be a regular kid who loves coloring, but not drawing. One whose bedroom isn't particularly tidy, but who is incredibly meticulous with her food, arranging pepperonis on mini pizzas oh-so precisely. Some-

"People think if you're a

kid with cancer that you're

helpless, but I'm not."

DELANEY CLEMENTS

one who loves listening to Taylor Swift and ordering secret favorite drinks at Starbucks with her friend Bryleigh and calling themselves the "bomb squad." But she's also caught in a very adult world of medicine, helping to decide last month to cease chemotherapy treatments in her seventh clinical trial to recover and have some down time as a kid.

"I don't care if they don't know who I am, I just want them to care about childhood cancer," she said. She also wants to dispel one of her least favorite misconceptions people have about kids with cancer.

"People think if you're a kid

with cancer that you're helpless, but I'm not," she said.

Delaney doesn't want anyone's pity. She wants their help, but she wants it on a larger scale. She wants them to know more about childhood cancers, she wants them to care and she wants them to do something tangible to help, like she did when she set up Delaney Donates.

"She wants people to do something," Campbell said. "It's like, don't tell me you're gonna pray for me, what are you going to do? Get involved. She wants people to step up and say, what can I do to make a difference?"

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