‘Heroes’ inspire UDance participants

On July 1, 2009, Noxah Palomo collapsed on the pitcher's mound from a seizure during a baseball game when he was 12 years old. He was rushed to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with AML M3, a rare form of leukemia.

When Pi Kappa Phi president Mike Teri heard about Noxah, his fraternity adopted him as a UDance "hero" that year. Heroes, who are children struggling with incurable diseases, receive support from student teams and organizations.

"You never, just by looking at him, would think that he went through what he went through," Teri said. "He was a very strong kid and a very fun-loving kid. He looked like any other 13 year old."

On March 13, the fifth annual UDance Marathon, a 12-hour fundraiser sponsored by participating students and the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation, will be held in the Delaware Field House to raise awareness about pediatric cancer. Proceeds will benefit families of critically ill children and promote pediatric cancer research.

The B+ Foundation was created in honor of Andrew McDonough, a 14-year-old Salesianum High School student who died four years ago after a 167-day battle with leukemia.

His family created the B+ Foundation to reach out to families with children struggling with incurable diseases.

Noxah's mother, Peggy Palomo, said her son loved playing sports and spending time outside. The founders of the B+ Foundation helped Palomo and her son throughout his battle with cancer.

"Joe McDonough from B+ reached out to us," Palomo said. "He brought gifts in for Noxah and he said, ‘If you need anything, please call me.' And I did, often. I didn't know where else to turn."

Last year's UDance generated more than $100,000. This year, event organizers hope to double that number.

Teri said many of the Pi Kappa Phi brothers grew close to Noxah and his family during UDance. One day in the hospital could cost as much as $598,000 for the Palomo family, so the fundraising event was very important for them. The brothers stayed in touch, keeping up with Noxah's condition, offering assistance and frequently visiting him in the hospital.

"We actually initiated him into our fraternity as an honorary brother," Teri said.

Thirteen-year-old Pearce Quesenberry, the hero for the Chi Omega sorority, was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a highly malignant brain tumor, in early 2008. She received 31 rounds of high-dose radiation as part of a clinical trial at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The Chi Omega sorority adopted Pearce two years ago as part of the UDance heroes' program.

"Pearce is the coolest little girl I've ever met," said junior Arielle Boyle of Chi Omega. "You would never know that Pearce went through this terrifying experience. She is so genuine and she just lights up the room."

Pearce's mother, Debbie, who said the sorority sisters have had a positive impact on her daughter, recalled how devastating receiving Pearce's diagnosis was.

"You don't ever think you're going to be in that situation as a parent," Quesenberry said. "‘Your baby's got brain cancer' wasn't in the handbook they gave us."

Though Pearce's treatment is over, Quesenberry said the side effects of the powerful treatments that saved her daughter's life remain. Pearce has weaker bones, a thyroid condition, vitamin deficiencies and permanent baldness on the top of her head due to the radiation.

Quesenberry worries that being 13 years old is difficult enough for her daughter on top of being a cancer survivor, but she is trying to help Pearce live as normal a life as possible.

"People go, ‘I can't believe you let her play ice hockey!'" Quesenberry said. "Well, what am I going to do, put her in a bubble? We're living life, right, Pearce?"

"Right," Pearce said.

Noxah responded well to chemotherapy and returned to the pitcher's mound on April 21, his 13th birthday, but three weeks later he relapsed. The disease returned in his brain and spread through his bone marrow and spinal fluid, Palomo said, and the doctors were running out of treatment options.

The Palomo family spent the summer in and out of Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children, but Noxah still made it to Wildwood, N.J. for their summer vacation and even went skydiving with his transplant doctor on Sep. 5, setting a record as the youngest skydiver in the nation.

"He told me he was scared of dying and he didn't know what to expect." Palomo said. "He said, ‘Mom, I'm 13. Are they just going to give me a needle and let me go to sleep?' I said, ‘I don't know how it's going to happen. I can't give you that answer. But will you promise me to take care of your family, your brothers and your sisters and your family [from heaven]?' He said, ‘Mom, I always will.'"

According to Palomo, in the early hours of Oct. 9, 2010, Noxah began to have complications. She called the rest of the family and told them to come to the hospital immediately.

"I told the ICU team, ‘You just give him whatever you can to keep him alive until his family arrives,'" Palomo said.

At 7:12 a.m., the medical staff at A.I. DuPont removed Noxah's oxygen mask and gave his family a moment to say goodbye. He died moments later, after a 15-month battle with leukemia.

Palomo is working with the B+ Foundation to spread awareness of pediatric cancer, and will be attending UDance with her family on Sunday. She is studying to be a professional medical assistant and hopes to work as a registered nurse in oncology in the future.

"I know that if you can bury your child, you can do anything," Palomo said.