
British ex-pats Gaylene and Nigel Meeson live in England with their 17-year-old daughter, who is a brain cancer survivor. Hannah was born and grew up in the Cayman Islands. She owes her life to research, but she struggles daily with the permanent physical, emotional, and cognitive disabilities caused by her cancer.
The Meeson family’s nightmare began with a visit to the pediatrician in Georgetown, Grand Cayman to discuss Hannah's serious balance issues. Within a few hours, a CT scan revealed a tumor on the cerebellum with hydrocephalus and Hannah was airlifted to Miami for surgery, later diagnosed as anaplastic medulloblastoma.
From July 2012 to May 2014, Hannah was based at MD Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital in Houston, Texas and spent only a few weeks at her home in the Cayman Islands. She completed six weeks of proton radiation with sedation to her whole brain and spine, followed by six months of triple drug chemotherapy. In early April 2013, Hannah's MRI showed disease progression and she began another triple drug chemotherapy treatment. After nine cycles of the new combination of drugs, the MRI in May 2014 showed that the tumors had disappeared and the disease was finally stable.
With no known protocols to follow that work for relapse, Hannah's treatment for the relapse was little more than an educated guess. Funding is desperately needed for new trials, new drugs and treatment options for all pediatric cancers. "All of the drugs Hannah has been given were developed for adults, mostly over 25 years ago, and many of them not even approved for use in children." The long-term affects and damage from all the chemotherapy and radiation are permanent, horrific, and endless. While she remains stable with no evidence of disease, she's lost her balance entirely, and lives with permanent physical, emotional, and cognitive disabilities with complex endocrine failure, affecting her everyday life.
Hannah is our hero. Despite the grueling treatment, being away and late effects which continue to materialize more than 10 years on, she still manages to enjoy life. She won't let cancer have the last word.
We set up this fund in her honour because, "kids like Hannah are worth fighting for." They all deserve more.
Awareness = Funding = Research = Cures
Donations made to Hannah's Heroes have funded St. Baldrick's Scholar Grants for Kelsey Bertrand M.B.B.S., Cheng-Chia Wu M.D., Pratiti Bandopadhayay M.B.B.S., Ph.D., Elias Sayour M.D., Eric Raabe Ph.D., M.D., and Lukas Chavez, Ph.D., St. Baldrick's Research Grants for Eric Raabe Ph.D. M.D., Monika Davare Ph.D., Erwin Van Meir Ph.D., and David Kirsch M.D., Ph.D., as well as a multi-institution St. Baldrick's Consortium grant led by Kimberly Stegmaier Ph.D.
The St. Baldrick's Foundation is guided by a Scientific Advisory Committee, comprised of leading experts in the childhood cancer community, to ensure that every dollar makes the greatest impact for kids with cancer.
These people make us smile - they’re the doers and money-raisers on behalf of Hannah's Heroes. They’re shaving their heads, hosting events, starting fundraisers and more to make childhood cancer research possible.
Start your own St. Baldrick’s head-shaving event to support our Hero Fund! A dedicated staff member will guide you every step of the way—and you’ll have fun doing something great for kids with cancer.
Register to shave your head and support our Hero Fund at any St. Baldrick’s event worldwide! No event nearby? Go virtual and shave anytime, anywhere.
Not into head-shaving? No problem! Start a fundraiser for our Hero Fund doing something you love—bike a marathon, host a bake sale, anything goes!
Need help? Email us at Funds@StBaldricks.org