Desire to help others

After cancer changed her life, 13-year-old Reagan Flemming is determined to help other kids and adults who are facing the circumstances of dealing with a serious illness.

With the help of her parents, John and Mary Flemming, Reagan is planning a birthday bash to raise money and awareness for a new charity to help kids, parents and their families when serious illness strikes. The event is next Saturday, Nov. 21, from 2-6 p.m. at Floyd T. Binns Middle School. Admission is free and the event is open to everyone.

“Last year, Reagan spent her 12th birthday at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and so we had promised her a big fun party and she had the idea of making like a kick off for the charity she wanted to start,” explained Mary.

The Flemming family is no stranger to the pain and uncertainty that often accompanies a diagnosis of a serious illness.

In November 2007, Reagan’s sister Ryleigh, then 4, couldn’t seem to shake flu-like symptoms. An eventual diagnosis of an autoimmune liver disorder spared her from the possibility of needing a liver transplant, but she’ll have to take medicine for the rest of her life to stay healthy. Then last March, her then 8-year-old brother Justin began feeling ill. Doctors diagnosed him with Type 1 diabetes. A weeklong hospital stay helped him get the disease under control.

Last July, Reagan and her family faced another crisis, when doctors discovered that the leg pain she was having was due to a cancerous cyst on her hip.

“When I first got diagnosed, I started to think about my brother and my sister who are also sick and I realized that I got a lot more things because I had cancer and they didn’t get very much,” she said.

Those things, she explained, include lots of gifts, unwavering support and services from a variety of different agencies. Reagan said she wants to make the same kind of support available to others.

While undergoing treatment, Reagan fondly recalls one thing that made her stays at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia more bearable — a frozen drink machine for young patients. The ice-cold slushy beverages, she explained, are a welcome treat, especially after breathing tubes are removed following surgery. Reagan said she’d like to get one of the machines for the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville.

Both expressed appreciation for the teachers and staff at Floyd T. Binns, especially principal Sherri Harkness.

“She’s just been 100 percent with our family and helped us in any way that we’ve needed it and I just want to thank her for being there with my family and co-sponsoring the event and hosting it at Floyd T.,” said Reagan.

One of next week’s fundraisers at the party will include a “puppy posse” adoption center. For $10 each, a new family will receive a stuffed animal, plastic puppy cup, candy bones and an adoption certificate. Reagan collected the posse of stuffed animals during her illness, giving them inspiring and uplifting names. Visitors to the celebration can also participate in a create new hair contest, using yarn, pipe cleaners and other items to create colorful wigs.

Reagan’s actual birthday was Friday. To celebrate, the family planned to visit Fredericksburg’s Riverside Dinner Theatre, where older brother John was to perform in a show.

In the meantime, Mary said, the battle continues. Reagan returned to doctors last month to have cancerous spots removed from her lungs. However, they said the support of their church, the family and the community helps them go on.

“Sometimes kids — I’ve heard from nurses and doctors — they’re just really depressed when they’re sick and that’s why I want to start this charity,” said Reagan. “I want to make them feel much better and not have to worry about this kind of stuff, because I know how it feels and it’s not easy.”