Community organizes fundraiser to help 2-year-old with cancer

WASILLA — As types of cancer go, 2-year-old Seth Bellamy has a fighting chance. Still, it’s a tall order for his mother to describe his illness in positive terms.

“If you have to have cancer …” Maggie Bellamy said, leaving her words hanging in the air. “This is the most treatable and the most common type.”

To Seth’s family, this means his childhood battle with cancer may one day be nothing more than a bad memory backed up with faded scars from the surgeries and other treatments he’s endured.

Jonah and Maggie Bellamy and their children — Marlee, 8, Jasmine, 4 and Seth, 2 — had traveled to Boston, Mass., to be in Aunt Amber’s wedding where their two youngest would be the ring bearer and flower girl.

But while they were in Boston this past summer, Seth became very ill and his parents took him to the emergency room where doctors said he was low on blood and platelets and rushed him to Boston Children’s Hospital for a blood transfusion and more tests.

“On the day of the wedding, Seth’s pale face, fever and tears made it clear that he was a very sick boy and he was taken to the hospital while wedding festivities continued,” his cousins Nicole and Megan Bateman wrote in an email asking for help sharing Seth’s story with the community.

Doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital gave his family the bad news: cancer — acute lymphoblastic leukemia, to be exact.

Seth never made it to his Aunt Amber’s wedding. Instead, he spent his second birthday in Boston while undergoing his first, four-week course of chemo.

Although Jonah and daughters Marlee and Jasmine returned to their Wasilla home after 10 days away, Maggie and Seth remained on the East Coast receiving treatment until Oct. 12.

These days, the boy and his mother drive back and forth to Anchorage to Providence Alaska Medical Center for chemo treatments four days a week. Maggie said the treatment is expected to last at least another two years, maybe three.

But if everything goes well, by the time Seth starts school his battle with cancer will be just a bad memory, she said.

Seth’s dad, Jonah, graduated from high school in the Valley and then lived in Idaho for several years after graduation before moving back to Alaska with his family in January 2010.

So Jonah said it was surprising and humbling to see how the community has reached out to plan fundraisers to help the family of five with basic living expenses. Maggie said she had to quit her job in order to care for Seth full-time and now the family is struggling financially as well as with the diagnosis.

To help, Jonah’ boss — Karen Mahoy, who own Mudbusters Car Wash — organized other friends, like MaryAnne and Dan Diebels, and family to pull out all the stops for a fundraiser at the American Legion in Wasilla Saturday. The fun includes live music by the Wild Cat Trio, food for sale from Jalapeño’s, hourly door prizes and live and silent auctions.

“It’s just going to be a big ol’ party,” Jonah said.

He said Mahoy started the ball rolling and other folks kept jumping on board to help.

“The people she knows and can talk into giving stuff away,” Jonah said. “It’s just been unreal.”

Saturday’s fundraiser is one of several planned locally and around the country to help Seth’s family through this part of their journey.

A local author donated a portion of his book sales recently and Maggie’s sister in California organized a bowling fundraiser for Seth in her community. In fact, by now, Seth’s Uncle John also has a haircut to match his nephew’s.

“Her goal was to raise $300 and they raised $800,” Maggie said. “If they made the goal, Uncle John said he would shave his head.”

So far, the chemo has decreased the presence of cancer in Seth’s bone marrow, but doctors say the boy is responding slowly and that his family should expect Seth will need cancer treatment for several more years, Maggie said.

His mom said on the worst days when his legs won’t cooperate to let him stand or walk, one thing still brings comfort to her son.

“Yo Gabba Gabba is his chill pill,” she said.

In addition to the fundraiser Saturday, there are a number of other ways to help the Bellamy family:

• A donation account is at Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union, No. 140477.

• People may donate online at wepay.com/donations/for-the-benefit-of-seth-Bellamy.

• Donate items to the silent or live auction by calling 841-2553.

For more information, visit Seth’s Facebook page at “Positive Inspirations for Seth.”

Contact managing editor Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.

What: Fundraiser to benefit Seth Bellamy’s family

When: 1 p.m., Dec. 8

Where: American Legion Post No. 35, 5050 Tweed Court, Wasilla