INDIANAPOLIS -
Hundreds of children are diagnosed with cancer in Indiana each year. It can be frightening for families and the children facing the fight of their life, as one young girl knows first hand.
Tatum Parker is a healthy 11-year old now, getting ready to go to middle school and start sixth grade, but she and her family have faced a tough road. Just before Tatum's sixth birthday in 2006, doctors diagnosed her with a bone cancer called Ewing's sarcoma. She underwent a year of chemotherapy and had four inches removed from her right femur.
Today, she is shopping for other kids diagnosed with cancer.
A year after her recovery, Tatum and her family started an organization called "Tatum's Bags of Fun," a way to help other children in Indiana, diagnosed with cancer and stuck in a hospital bed, just like she was.
"Usually, when you are in a hospital bed, all you have is the TV and that's it and it definitely can get very boring, you know," Tatum said. " I received one of these backpacks when I was diagnosed when I was six and it really helped me a lot."
Tatum and her family fill backpacks with about $350 worth of age-appropriate toys and games for kids just diagnosed with a cancer. Her dad, Jayson, says it's a task they all do with mixed emotions. They are happy to help the families, but also sorry for what they face.
"It's a tough feeling. We know what they are going through at that moment, that fog they are in right now and trying to figure out what they are going to do, how they are going to get through this, what treatment..." Jayson Parker said.
They know all too well. A year after her first recovery, in 2008, Tatum was diagnosed with cancer again, this time it had spread to her lung. That meant another year of chemo.
Today, it has been three years and Tatum is cancer-free. She spends her free time shopping for the bags for the kids and planning their annual fundraiser, the white party, which raises most of the money for the organization.
In April, they delivered their thousandth bag. As for Tatum, she looks forward to a day that no child in Indiana needs a bag of fun.
"It's good to know we can make a difference in their lives and help them, but then again, it still stinks, because you don't really want anyone to go through it," she said.
If you would like to attend the upcoming party to support Tatum's Bag of Fun, it will be held September 8 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Tatum Parker and her father, Jayson, shop for items to give to young cancer patients.
Tatum was diagnosed with cancer in 2006, just before her 6th birthday.
Tatum, cancer-free for three years, has handed out more than 1,000 "bags of fun."
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WTHR. For more information on this site, please read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
