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Y! MyWebChild diagnosed with cancer on vacation
Friday, October 03, 2008
Urbana, Ohio — What was supposed to be a vacation for a local family turned into an extended nightmare. The family has beenforced to spend the next four weeks in North Carolina while their 10-month old daughter is treated for cancer.
Back in Ohio, friends and co-workers are trying to make sure their bills are paid so they can focus on their daughter.
On Monday, Sept. 22, Phillip and Culley Laird drove from their home in Champaign County to North Carolina to visit relatives, said Heather Flora, co-owner of Theresa's Gingerbread House. Culley works in the Urbana office of the child care center.
During the trip, Alivia, the couple's 10-month daughter was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia — a cancer of the white blood cells, the cells in the body that normally fight infections. The family is now staying behind while their daughter is being treated at the University of North Carolina Children's Hospital in Chapel Hill.
Alivia is in fair condition at the hospital, officials confirmed Thursday, Oct. 2.
But while Phillip and Culley Laird are staying behind in Chapel Hill, Culley's co-workers are trying to make sure they can focus on their daughter and not worry about their bills over the next few weeks.
"We love them," Flora said. "They're part of our family. We want that to be the last worry that they have as far as paying their bills and finding lodging."
To help raise money for the family, Culley's co-workers are setting up booths and offering a bake sale over the weekend. The bake and craft sale will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4 at Theresa's Gingerbread House in Urbana. Residents can donate baked goods, crafts and fall decorations at 1202 N. Main St., Urbana.
Proceeds from the bake sale will go toward paying for lodging, gas cards, food and medical costs.
A booth also will be set up from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Oktoberfest. That event will be at the Champaign County Historical Society Museum, 809 E. Lawn Ave., Urbana.
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0355 or msanctis@coxohio.com.
