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Register for a local walk
Six Flags Great Adventure
Join us on June 13, 2010
Online registration has closed for this event. You can register in person at the park on the morning of the walk starting at 8:00am. Day of registration fees are $15 per person.
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Walk Ambassador
Lilly was an energetic, athletic and happy 10-year-old child. She was the fastest girl in the fourth grade and gym was her favorite class. Lilly danced four days each week with her MTM Dance Troupe and had just been invited to play for the Peninsula girls travel soccer team. She dreamed about being the next Mia Hamm.
In January 2009, Lilly began to have severe pains in her legs that would come and go. After a visit with her pediatrician and a pediatric sports medicine doctor, she was diagnosed with “growing pains.” Despite this diagnosis, the pain continued and she often needed a heating pad to soothe the pain when she attended dance class. Lilly’s pain did subside for a while and she continued to perform with her dance troupe and play winter soccer.
Unfortunately, by April, the pain returned with a vengeance. Lilly’s parents insisted that her doctors conduct more tests. After a simple X-ray, physicians found a tumor on her left femur. Within days, Lilly had an MRI and a bone biopsy performed. The test revealed shocking news: Lilly had Ewing’s Sarcoma- a rare childhood cancer that strikes only 250 children each year.
After her diagnosis, Lilly had limb salvage surgery at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which involved implanting a titanium rod in her leg. During follow-up visits with Dr. Aaron Weiss at The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital (BMSCH) at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Lilly fell in love with Dr. Weiss and the other children who were receiving treatment there. She decided that it would be better to receive her chemotherapy treatment at BMSCH, which was closer to home, and her friends and family.
Lilly was quickly embraced as the smiling, social and outgoing child she is. Lilly regularly planned movie and game gatherings with the other children on BMSCH’s Hematology/Oncology Unit. During her time at BMSCH, she realized that there was a playroom for little children and a teen room for older patients. It was then that she decided to start a fundraising drive to establish a “tween room” designed specifically for children her age. In July 2009, Lilly’s summer camp, Seashore Daycamp, held “Laps 4 Lilly” to support her dream. The swimming fundraiser netted nearly $65,000 for her cause! In addition, the “Love4Lilly” fund was established with the help of Lilly’s schoolmates, friends and individuals who shared her vision. To date, Lilly has raised more than $100,000 to create a new type of playroom for the Hematology/Oncology unit at BMSCH.
Lilly is now 11 and finished with her chemotherapy treatment. She is enjoying school, her friends, swimming and being cancer free! Her positive attitude, uplifting spirit and shining smile is an inspiration to everyone she meets.
About the Hospital
The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (BMSCH) is New Jersey's largest free-standing, state-designated, acute care children's hospital. From pediatric surgery, urology and cardiology to oncology, hematology and pulmonology, BMSCH’s specialists and intensivists provide advanced care for children of all ages – from fragile newborns to adolescents. BMSCH consistently ranks in the top one percent of all children’s hospitals nationwide.
About the Park
Six Flags Great Adventure and Wild Safari offers fun for the entire family with 13 thrilling roller coasters such as Kingda Ka, Bizarro and El Toro, four children’s areas, interactive animal shows like Dolphin Discovery and Temple of the Tiger, a sensational concert line-up and entertainment for the entire family including the Glow in the Park parade. Adjacent to the theme park encounter more than 1,200 exotic animals from six different continents in the largest drive-thru safari outside of Africa. Right next door, Six Flags Hurricane Harbor introduces the all-new Tornado offering more wet’n wild fun in the No. 1 water park in the Northeast.
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