Lee High community rallies behind student with cancer

STAUNTON - Raegan Fitzgerald is quiet but always has a smile.

Recently, the 15-year-old was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and has undergone chemotherapy treatments.

That smile hasn't faded.

Neighbor Donna Tinsley has known Fitzgerald and her family for four years. Her son is a sophomore with Fitzgerald at Robert E. Lee High School in Staunton.

"She is a homebody," Tinsley said. "I've never heard her raise her voice."

Fitzgerald is the oldest of three children — her younger siblings attend McSwain Elementary. She keeps to herself, enjoys Pokémon and arts and crafts. The teen is very close to her family.

"She loves her family very much," she said of Fitzgerald.

Tinsley took it upon herself to start a fundraising effort for the family.

"Their family was already struggling before her diagnosis," Tinsley said. "Her mom stays at home with the kids and her dad is the only one working."

Fitzgerald's mother is by her side at the University of Virginia Medical Center for her treatments, while her father is trying to hold down a full-time job and taking care of her two younger siblings.

Tinsley turned to the Lee High community for help. And, the entire community has chipped in.

"I am an active parent at Lee and I just felt they needed as much support as they can possibly get," she said. "They are just at the beginning of what will be a long road."

They started a campaign. Tinsley's daughter came up with the hashtag #RaeganWrecksCancer and they made a GoFundMe page to help raise money for the family. There's also a #RaeganWrecksCancer Facebook page for Tinsley to update people about Fitzgerald's status.

The community support has been overwhelming, Tinsley said. Even the Lee High class of 2020 has started a fundraising campaign for care packages and will be taking donations through next Wednesday at the high school.

"I love our Lee High community," Tinsley said. "The students and staff there are one collective unit and I know they will come together for Raegan. Even though she doesn't play sports and is more of a loner, she is still a member of #famLEE."

Some facts from the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation: 1 in 285 children will be diagnosed with cancer.

43 children per day or 15,780 children per year are expected to be diagnosed with cancer.

More than 95 percent of childhood cancer survivors will have a significant health related issue by the time they are 45 years of age. These health related issues are side-effects of either the cancer or more commonly, the result of its treatment.

Cancer is the number one cause of death by disease among children.

The average cost of a stay in a hospital for a child with cancer is $40,000.

Only 4 percent of federal government cancer research funding goes to study pediatric cancer.

Cancer has touched Tinsley's life when her father died from cancer. Her best friend Lisa Kier died from cancer at the age of 42.

"Cancer doesn't care who are or how old or what color or your financial situation," she said.

She saw what both her father and friend went through battling the disease.

"I saw their plight, their struggle and to think of a child going through that just makes me cry," she said. "They haven't even begun to live yet. Getting poked and prodded and dosed with drugs that make you sick and long hospital stays. The community is their best hope for support and encouragement."

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Follow Laura Peters @peterslaura and @peterpants. You can reach her at lpeters@newsleader.com or 213-9125.