Editor’s Note: This is the third story in a series about childhood cancer awareness month. A story on Sept. 5 highlighted two pediatric cancer survivors. A story on Sept. 8 focused on events. This story focuses on the Press On Fund and its efforts to raise money for childhood cancer research. A final story will highlight the Sept. 18 Go Gold For September: Fun Walk and Butterfly Release.
When their son was diagnosed with leukemia in 2009, Turner and Tara Simkins found themselves in a new unfamiliar world of treatments and protocols and hospital stays.
Two years later, they’d learned a lot about childhood cancer and wanted to make a difference in the lives of the families they’d met while their son, Brennan, underwent a series of treatments including four bone marrow transplants and experimental protocols.
“Only four percent of the federal budget for cancer research goes towards pediatric cancers,” said Tara Simkins, who is one of the co-founders of the Press On Fund, which raises money specifically geared toward childhood cancers.
MORE Childhood Cancer: Events Create Awareness and Raise Money
In many cases, drugs used for pediatric cancers are adult medications that have been retrofitted for children, she said.
But adult cancers and pediatric cancers are different. They are caused by different factors, so adult drugs are not always the best for children, she said.
Brennan Simkins is now 19 and is a freshman at the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tenn., the city that opened its arms to him and his family when they spent two years there as he received treatment at the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. After being diagnosed at the age of 7, he’s been in remission for a decade.
In 2019, the Press On Fund made a four-year, $1 million pledge to the Children’s Hospital of Augusta. The first $500,000 of that pledge has gone toward a pediatric immunotherapy program at Augusta University, according to an impact report.
“PIP has shown low to no toxicity for patients,” the report states.
That’s important because many times the toxic treatments lead to the deaths of child patients or impact their future quality of life.
Tara Simkins said her son’s doctor told her that his body had seen more toxicity than victims of the bombing of Hiroshima. A decade after his cancer treatment he still feels the effects. His medications have impacted his short-term memory. He developed cataracts as a teenager, and he requires extra sleep.
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The PIP protocols have had good initial results according to the report.
“We have found that a number of the children receiving this treatment are demonstrating quality of life improvements, such as returning to school, taking long-delayed vacation trips, engaging in activities they cherish such as hiking and rock-climbing, moving into a dormitory at college, attending sporting events and others,” according to the report.
The next installment of the pledge will be given in December and will go toward the establishment of a pediatric bone marrow transplant program at the Children’s Hospital of Georgia.
The fund has also given grants to other children’s hospitals including St. Jude, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Medical University of South Carolina Children’s Health.
MORE: Childhood Cancer: September Brings Awareness
Simkins said the fund also partnered with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in LLS’s PedAl clinical trial. LLS PedAl is part of the LLS Children’s Initiative which pledges $100 million to pediatric cancer research.
Simkins said her work through the Press On Fund is enabling her to fulfill her goal of leaving this world better than she found it.
To learn more about the Press On Fund, visit pressonfund.org.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com.
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