A Philipsburg teenager that made history as the first pediatric patient in the world to receive a then-experimental cancer treatment and her parents celebrated Wednesday her 10-year anniversary of being cancer-free.
Emily Whitehead was marked cured of acute lymphoblastic leukemia — a type of cancer in the blood and bone marrow that affects white blood cells — by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Dr. Stephan Grupp.
The 17-year-old junior got her driver’s license in January and is preparing to take the SAT next month, just one step toward applying to universities throughout the country. She’s interested in pursuing a career in film or environmental science.
“It’s been amazing for us as parents to see that she not only survived cancer, but now she’s thriving in life,” her father, Tom Whitehead, said. “We’ve been able to travel all over the world with her and make a difference and pay it forward. … We get to make these amazing memories with her to turn something that was terrible into something really positive.”
Whitehead was diagnosed with the disease a dozen years ago when she was 5 years old. She relapsed twice, before the most common type of cancer in children became resistant to her treatment options.
Source: The Philipsburg teen who started a ‘revolution in pediatric cancer care’ is 10 years cancer-free
