Fundraiser to follow National Ewing Sarcoma Awareness Month; legislators seek National Health Institutes investigation
Buttons and bracelets were made by friends in support of Mitch Barton and his battle against Ewing’s sarcoma.
Observer-Reporter
Mitch Barton poses for a photo with his mom, Christine, inside their home in North Strabane Township in March.
The wristbands inscribed “We Got This” that Mitch Barton’s family and friends wear are yellow.
And yellow will be on the shirts of the participants in a wiffle ball tournament fundraiser slated for Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Falconi Fields in Canonsburg.
It’s the color for sarcoma awareness, and July is National Sarcoma Awareness Month.
Sarcoma Awareness Month aims to highlight the challenges that sarcoma patients face and the need for more sarcoma research and funding.
Jake Davey, who is commissioner of the Wiff is Life League (WIFL) wiffle ball league, which organized the fundraiser, said many of the players have known Barton since they were kids.
Many league members also were friends with Luke Blanock, a graduate of Canon-McMillan High School who died in 2016 after a battle with Ewing’s sarcoma.
Both Barton and Blanock played baseball for Canon-McMillan High School.
“We just wanted to raise awareness about it and raise money,” said Davey. “It’s horrible, what he’s going through, and we wanted to do something to help out. We were friends with Luke, as well. Since I run a wiffle ball league in the area, we had the platform and we thought we’d put it to good use.”
The tournament currently has 21 youth and adult teams, composed of three or four players per team.
All proceeds will go to Barton and his family.
“I think it’s wonderful that his old friends want to come out and support Mitch,” said Christine Barton, Mitch’s mother. “The whole Canon-Mac community has supported and rallied around Mitch and our family. He is so grateful and we are so grateful.”
Sarcoma Foundation of America calls sarcoma – cancer of the soft tissue and bone that affects more than 50,000 people in the United States – the “forgotten cancer.”
But sarcoma, specifically Ewing’s sarcoma, is a cancer that is front and center in Southwestern Pennsylvania, where it has affected the lives of several families.
Since 2008, six cases of Ewing’s sarcoma have been diagnosed within Canon-McMillan School District.
Each year, only 200 to 250 cases are reported.
The cases alarmed the residents in southwestern Pennsylvania, who are concerned the Ewing’s sarcoma cases could be linked to any number of environmental causes.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health conducted an investigation but concluded in April that no cancer cluster exists there.
State reps. Tim O’Neal and Jason Ortitay on Friday announced they are introducing a resolution urging Congress to direct the National Institutes of Health to further study the causes of Ewing Sarcoma. We believe this is vital for protecting and improving the health of all Pennsylvanians.
In a news release, the legislators wrote, “While the study indicated there were not enough cases to meet the definition of a cancer cluster, the study did indicate that the exact cause of Ewing sarcoma remains largely unknown.”
O’Neal said in April he would advocate for more funding for Ewing’s sarcoma research.
“I was so happy to hear they are pursuing this,” said Barton. “Hopefully (Congress) will decide that the health agency has to start performing some type of testing.”