Friends and family of Hamilton resident Isabella Petrino are set to participate in the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation Lemon Run Philadelphia.
The run is set to benefit Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, which aims to find a cure for cancer. Petrino suffered from childhood cancer during the first year of her life.
In 2010, Petrino was born with a rare birth defect called Bladder Exstrophy, when the bladder is birthed outside an infant’s body. One-month-old Petrino had surgery to have her bladder put inside and spent three weeks in recovery at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
One month later, during a post-surgery ultra-sound of Petrino’s bladder, a radiologist noticed masses on her adrenal glands. This is typical of Neuroblastoma Cancer.
The doctors diagnosed her at two and one half-months-old with Stage IV neuroblastoma. She had masses on her liver, both adrenal glands, in her lymph nodes in her neck and a mass in her chest, almost infused into her spine.
Petrino was treated with eight rounds of chemotherapy and had three surgeries, along with countless blood and platelet transfusions, all before she was one year old.
Today, Petrino is three and one half years old and has been cancer free almost three years.
Her family is on a mission to give back. They have hosted two Lemonade Stands and are set to run in the Lemon Run.
The Lemon Run Philadelphia is scheduled for 8 a.m. Nov. 10 at Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park. The event consists of a 5k run/walk and 100 meter Kids’ Dash.
Advanced registration is $35 for 5K runners, $25 for 5K walkers and $15 for Kids’ Dash participants
The day’s festivities also include various forms of entertainment, music, guest speakers and an awards ceremony.
Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation emerged from the front yard lemonade stand of cancer patient Alexandra “Alex” Scott (1996-2004). In 2000, 4-year-old Alex announced that she wanted to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help find a cure for all children with cancer. Since Alex held that first stand, the Foundation bearing her name has evolved into a national fundraising movement, complete with thousands of supporters across the country carrying on her legacy of hope. To date, ALSF has raised more than $65 million toward fulfilling Alex’s dream of finding a cure, funding over 350 pediatric cancer research projects nationally.
More information is online at thelemonrun.org.
