Strike Out Bone Cancer Softball Game Wednesday Night to Help Laurren Smith
Don PurdumPost Editor
April 28, 2009, 12:15 p.m.
Laurren Smith is a 13 year-old Forney resident who has been struggling with cancer since August 2007.
Laurren’s journey began with a leg injury that was not getting any better. On Sunday, August 19, 2007, Laurren’s parents took her to our local Care United Clinic. The doctor there sensed a bigger problem, and immediately sent Laurren’s X-Rays to Children’s Hospital in Dallas. The Smith family received a call from Care United later that afternoon letting them know they needed to go to the emergency room at Children’s immediately.
Laurren was diagnosed at that time with Osteo-Sarcoma, and began her chemo treatments within days. In November, Laurren’s knee was replaced with a prosthetic knee, along with bone on either end of her knee, and her chemo treatments continued. During the chemo treatments, Laurren began to experience heart problems which caused a change in her chemo regimen.
Doctors thought Laurren was progressing nicely, until they recently found more spots on both her lungs. She is now on a clinic trial drug in hopes it will help fight the cancer.
On Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m., the University of Texas at Arlington softball team will host a “Strike Out Bone Cancer” game against UNT, at the UTA campus. Laurren will be throwing out the first pitch of the game, and they will be taking donations at the gate as well as selling shirts for $12 or donations. All proceeds will go to Laurren's trust fund.
