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Leukemia survivor aids fight against cancer

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Abby Hartzell participated in the final “canning” collection toward the Penn State Dance Marathon’s fundraising efforts.

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Abby Hartzell is shown at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center during the 2017 THON.

The last full weekend of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month marked the end of an era, and Penn State sophomore Abby Hartzell made darned sure not to miss it.

The Bethel Park High School graduate was among students who went out one final time Sept. 23-24 to collect donations from motorists – going “canning,” as they call it – as part of the Herculean fundraising efforts that culminate in the annual Penn State Dance Marathon.

Proceeds from THON, in turn, benefit Four Diamonds at Penn State Children’s Hospital, which provides support for families battling pediatric cancer.

“My parents actually met on the University Park campus, so I’ve known ever since I was little what THON was,” Abby said. “I’d see the ‘canners’ out on the side of the road, and they’d say, ‘Oh, Abby, they’re raising money for kids like you.'”

John and Mary Beth Hartzell learned in 2004 that their 4-year-old daughter was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which occurs when a bone marrow cell develops errors in its DNA.

“I had two years of chemotherapy and missed most of kindergarten because I was not healthy enough to go,” Abby recalled.

The good news is that she has been in remission for half a dozen years

“I am totally fine now,” she reported. “I’ve had annual checkups. I had to have a lot of other tests, just to make sure there were no lasting effects. Other than that, everything has gone well since then.”

Abby’s own battle with cancer prompted her to join the THON effort as soon as she arrived on the Penn State campus, helping with the largest student-run philanthropy in the world by serving on its rules and regulations committee as a freshman.

Actually, she arrived with firsthand experience at the 46-hour marathon. Her sister, Emma, invited her to attend the festivities just prior to her 2016 graduation from the university.

“She was a THON captain,” Abby said. “She took me down on the floor and everything, and that’s when I knew that I had to be involved with THON.”

Some 16,500 student volunteers get involved each year with the effort, which started in 1973. Since then, THON has raised $147 million and helped 3,700 families.

Abby is looking forward to the 2018 version, scheduled for Feb. 16-18 at the 13,000-seat Bryce Jordan Center.

“It’s definitely chaotic, but it’s a fun chaos,” she said about the big event. “You will see people sprinting everywhere all the time. The directors, I think they just run laps around the Bryce Jordan Center. They’re just all over the place.

“As for the dancers, you can obviously tell that they’re tired. But they’re just filled with this motivation to keep going, and it’s heartwarming and just kind of incredible to be around.”

Fundraising activities, which until now included “canning,” take place throughout the year leading up to the marathon. Abby is part of one of the special-interest organizations that exist solely to augment THON’s efforts: Ohana, named for a Hawaiian term that represents family, has brought in $127,718 this year.

Members of the organization have opportunities to interact with children who are beneficiaries of Four Diamonds services.

“We had a picnic earlier in the year, and I got to meet one of the girls and her little brother,” Abby said. “We spent the day playing in the park with them. Things like that are definitely super-rewarding, but it’s a little sad, because it hits home exactly why we have to do all of this. It definitely puts everything in perspective.”

For more information and to support the cause, visit thon.org.

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