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News from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
"This Is My Way of
Helping": Girl Raises $12,000 for Medical Research in Honor of
Her Father, a Multiple Myeloma Patient at UAMS
FEB. 11,
2003 | An 11-year-old girl who raised
$12,000 for medical research by selling
hand-made lapel pins presented the funds
to the University of Arkansas for Medical
Sciences (UAMS) today in a tearful
ceremony.
Kirsten Gary, 11, of Copenhagen, Denmark,
gave the money to the Myeloma Institute
for Research and Therapy at UAMS in honor
of her father, Don Gary, who is receiving
treatment for the rare form of cancer
here.
"I have seen my Dad with hair,
without hair, and now with curly hair! My
family lives through his good days and his
not so good days," Kirsten said.
"I want my Dad to be around for a
very long time. I decided that the best
way to help find a cure would be to raise
money for cancer research."
Kirsten makes and sells pins representing
different national flags to her classmates
at Copenhagen International School and to
others who have heard her story. "I
have created 68 different countries and
various holiday pins. I have sold over 900
pins and hope to sell a whole lot more! So
please help me by ordering a pin. You pick
the country and I'll do the flag! Wear it
proudly and remember that you supported
cancer research," she said before
breaking into tears and hugging her
father.
Mr. Gary praised his daughter and the UAMS
myeloma institute. "I have multiple
myeloma. There is no cure. Having a chance
to go to Boston or New York [for
treatment], I came here," he said.
The UAMS institute has achieved a median
survival rate of six to seven years, twice
the overall average, attracting so many
patients that UAMS has become one of the
largest myeloma treatment and research
centers in the world. The institute
provides advanced medical training for
cancer doctors and provides
state-of-the-art treatment. The institute’s
physicians are members of the Arkansas
Cancer Research Center at UAMS.
"We want your father to be around
when you meet your first boyfriend, when
you embark on a career," Bart
Barlogie, M.D., Ph.D., director of the
myeloma institute, told Kirsten. "We
made a commitment more than 15 years ago
to find a cure for most patients with
multiple myeloma."
Dr. Barlogie is one of the world’s
leading researchers on the disease, which
affects plasma cells. He has been an agent
of change in myeloma therapy for two
decades, contributing to superior clinical
outcomes for patients afflicted with this
disease worldwide.
"She does the design and the
manufacturing and she keeps up with her
homework and she plays the violin, the
saxophone, and the piano," Gary said
of his daughter. "She has meant so
much to us." Gary and his wife,
Marrisa Gary, have two younger children
who help Kirsten make the pins.
Call UAMS (501-686-5686) to order pins.
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Bart
Barlogie, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Myeloma Institute for
Research and Therapy at UAMS (center) hugs 11-year-old
Kirsten Gary after she presented $12,000 for medical
research. Her father, Don Gary (foreground) and UAMS
Chancellor I Dodd Wilson, M.D. (background) look on. (JohnPaul
Jones) Click on photo for larger view.
Kirsten makes the pins in
the form of flags. (JohnPaul Jones) Click on photo for
larger view.
Kirsten Gary and her father, Don Gary, pose with the beaded
pins Kirsten makes and sells to raise funds for the Myeloma
Institute at UAMS. (JohnPaul Jones) Click on photo for
larger view.
Kirsten changed the $10,000 on a ceremonial check to $12,000
to reflect additional money she has raised. Left to right:
UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson; Bart Barlogie, M.D., Ph.D.,
of the Myeloma Institute; Kirsten Gary; her mother, Marrisa
Gary; and her father, Don Gary (JohnPaul Jones) Click on
photo for larger view.
Subscribe to "Myeloma
Advances Today," a free e-mail newsletter. Send
a message to UAMS
Today with "subscribe myeloma" in the
subject line.
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Links on This Page
Myeloma Institute:
UAMS Reports: http://www.uams.edu/today/2003/013003/myeloma_treatment.htm
© 2003 University of Arkansas
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08/04/03 |
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