By Julia Matias
While most one-year-olds are struggling to spit out those first words, Kiara Henry is simply fighting to survive.
The 14-month-old who was born with hemangioma, is giving students a reason to lace up their bowling shoes to spare her parents from the hefty hospital bills.
The Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society is hosting its bi-annual Bowl-a-thon on Friday at the AMF Garden City Bowl to raise funds for the series of operations Kiara will undergo to remove a benign tumor on her face.
The Henry family is reaching out to the University for support to help pay for operations that will cost over $100,000.
“We know that these operations are going to cost a lot,” Marc Oppenheim, chapter co-advisor and alumnus of Sigma, said.
“Our goal is to help [the family] with the medical expenses that they’re going to incur,” he said.
Oppenheim is closely related to the Henry family, his brother-in-law, Eli Weinstock, is Kiara’s godfather.
Kiara was born two months premature and developed signs of hemangioma on her face within two weeks of birth, Joseph Henry, Kiara’s father, said.
Although hemangioma usually disappears after 10 years as the patient grows older, it increases in size and causes complications such as visual and breathing problems, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s Web site.
Little is known about the causes of hemangioma except that it is primarily seen in premature Caucasian baby girls soon after birth, according to the site. Until recently, doctors believed that no preventive intervention could be done in hemangioma cases.
Rosita, Kiara’s mother, and Joseph Henry, constantly bring Kiara to different specialists, but are at a loss as to what to do, Joseph said.
Oppenheim, along with Kiara’s parents, hopes that the Bowl-A-Thon will help create awareness on what hemangioma is and encourage people to become more involved.
“A lot of people don’t know what it is,” Joseph said. “We need to let people know.”
In addition to the Bowl-a-thon Friday night, Sigma members will collect spare change and donations.
Anyone can sign up and donate any amount of money. Sororities such as Alpha Phi and other University organizations have also stepped up to contribute to the cause.
“This is definitely going to be the biggest Bowl-a-thon ever,” chapter vice-president Erika Rokos, a senior business management major, said.
“We have many members of our group reaching out to sororities and the football team. This is absolutely phenomenal,” she said.
Alpha Phi set up tables at the Student Center and sold ribbons, Circle K helped advertise for the Bowl-a-thon by putting up posters, professors and other University employees donated a great deal and the football team is collecting change, Amy Hudak, chapter secretary, said.
She added that this is a good shift from the national charity fundraisers, like the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund and Multiple Sclerosis walks, they usually do.
“We’re always looking for ways to give back to the community and I’m glad it’s more personal,” Hudak, a junior early childhood and elementary education major, said. “People forget about local charities. It’s always nice to personally know who you’re helping.”