Sometimes you hear a story about how really bad things can sometimes happen to really good people, and all you can think about at that very moment is, there but by the grace of god go I. A friend of mine, Jeff Nesvig, from the San Diego area and I were chatting on the phone a few Friday nights back when Jeff told me about this sweet 7 year old little BMXICAN named Erin Schaefer.
On October 5, 2009 Erin was riding her new horse that she got for her birthday, when the horse got spooked and Erin lost her balance, fell off and was stepped on. The horse stepped on her left side and left arm. Her oldest sister, Randi rushed her to Sharp Chula Vista Hospital to get medical attention. The doctors ran a CAT scan on her abdomen. The results concerning the horse incident turned out fine, but they found a large mass on top of her kidney. The next day, she was taken to Children’s Hospital and spent several days their running tests.
The conclusion, she was diagnosed with Nueroblastoma (which is a childhood cancer) that has already spread. She has already begun treatment and just finished her second cycle of Chemotherapy (which is 5 day treatments every 3 weeks). Erin’s, protocol will run 9 months to 1 year, which will consists of: chemotherapy treatments, surgery, stem cell collections, blood transfusions and a bone marrow transplant with her own cells. Erin just came home from her 2nd cycle on November 11, 2009 and seems to be handling it well.
As you can imagine, the Schafer family has had their lives turned upside down now. The parents and kids at the local track are just in a state of shock over this sick little angel too. As Jeff was relating the story to me the other night, it sent chills up my spine and brought a tear to my eye. Every parent out there reading this can identify with the fear and worry that Erin's parents are going through now. Everyone of us that has ever had a child who has been even sick with just the flu can relate to the sense of helplessness they are feeling.
So what can we do? For right now, please keep them in your prayers as the Schaefers need them. You can also click on the donate button at the top of this message. We will also be doing some fund raising ourselves at the track to help Erin and her family after thanksgiving. I know times are tough for some, but even if you can not help with funds, please find it in your heart just to ask god to help Erin for you.
Erin's 16 year old sister Tyler wrote me this .... "Hello this is Tyler Shaefer, Erin Schaefer's older sister. Erin is a 7 year old girl that loves riding bikes and riding horses. She has been riding bikes for 3 years now and has been riding horses for 6 months. She is just a talented, beautiful, caring, smart, and energetic little girl that loves to have a good time. The day my family and I found out that Erin had a tumor on her left kidney was on the 5th of October, 2009(the day after her birthday which is the 6th). Erin was out at the ranch with my other sister Randi Schaefer and she had taken Erin to ride her horse, as she was riding she had fallen off because the horse got spooked out, when she fell the horse had stepped on her ribs and right away Randi took her to the hospital to see if she had any broken bones. The doctors didn't find any broken bones but they had found a HUGE tumor."
Warren