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At Thirteen... Brett Gideon fights cancer
Brett with his “Weekend Gang”! They get together with him every weekend to offer love and support. They are his cousins: (left to right) Hailey Daugherty, Cody Killough, Brett, Roy Johnson and Christian Campbell.
Thirteen year old Brett Monroe Gideon was diagnosed on January 9th of this year with Ewings Sarcoma, a malignant small, round blue cell tumor. This is a rare disease in which cancer cells are found in the bone or in soft tissue. The disease occurs mostly in teenagers and young adults and is more common in males. Although not the usual location, Brett’s bone cancer became a mass on his brain, localized in his skull. However, it was successfully removed at Levine’s Children’s Hospital in Charlotte. Since then, he has continued to be a fighter. He’s scheduled to have 47 chemotherapy treatments and has completed 42. He’s also completed 31 radiation treatments. Patients of this dreaded disease usually experience extreme bone pain. His mother, Danielle, after working 17 years at Cleveland Regional Hospital has had to quit. She attends to Brett 24 hours a day with the dedicated help of her mother, Gail Tillman. Danielle drives Brett to Charlotte five to seven times a week for his treatments and transfusions. With the assistance of her family and friends, she pays for gas, food and medicine. The theme of her constant mission is: “Praying For Brett”. His cancer was quite a shock to his family since Brett had never been sick before. He could not help but ask “why me”. He even asked the doctor, “could I die?” The answer he got was “yes”. Brett can’t wait until the treatments are over. He’s tired of being tired and having to wear a bag of chemo. He is, without doubt, an inspiration to everyone. Although exhausted, he continues to smile and fight for a cure.
Friendly Chapel Baptist Church, a small country church in Lawndale, held their  second Poor Man’s Supper - a “Battling For Brett” fundraiser on Sept. 20th. The small church with a big heart requested contributions and prayers. People gathered afterwards outside on the lawn under some trees to listen and sing to some music. As small children played together, it was a coming together for Brett. The church is located at 738 Sugar Hill Road. Their pastor is Norris Willis. If you would like to help, you can contribute by praying and making a contribution to: “Battling For Brett” - 296 Highway 274, Vale, NC 28168.
Brett wants to be a Marine, just like his Uncle Charlie and he’s making progress. We wish Brett a Happy Birthday, who will be fourteen on September 29th, 2014.
-M.A. Andrews

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