Kelsie's Crew racing to help fellow students and others

Students, others hold 5-K to help FHS student battleing cancer

Kelsie's Crew was racing for a cure Saturday morning in Flomaton, not only for their classmate and friend, but others who are battling cancer and especially for those now taking or will take an experimental treatment for brain tumors.

Kelsie Padgett, 16, was on hand to sound the firetruck siren to start the 5-K run Saturday at Flomaton High School. Funds raised at the event will not only be used to help cover travel expenses for Kelsie and her family, but also help fund the experimental treatment created by Dr. Gregory Freidman at Children's Hospital in Birmingham.

"I'm very thankful for all my classmates and what they've done for me," Kelsie said Wednesday while in Birmingham for a doctor's appointment. "I'm glad to know I have such good friends who are willing to support and help me and others in the same situation."

Tracey Padgett, Kelsie's mother, said Kelsie was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2015 while attending Pollard-McCall Jr. High School. She said the technical term is glioblastoma, which was diagnosed in Kelsie as a Grade 4 aggressive tumor in the left front lobe of her brain.

Kelsie had surgery to remove the tumor and went through a strenuous 30-days of chemotherapy and radiation, followed by a year-long treatment with chemo.

Kelsie had been without any treatment for about a year and a half, but the cancer has returned.

Tracey said she can't remember the date, but it was during the ice storm that hit south Alabama about two months ago.

"It was a Wednesday night, they were out of school," Tracey said. "Kelsie got something to eat and went to to the bathroom and said she couldn't feel her arm or her hands.

Kelsie was taken to the emergency room and a CT scan revealed a spot in her brain and she went immediately to Children's Hospital in Birmingham.

She said tests in Birmingham revealed three tumors in a different area of Kelsie's brain. She said they were all connected and there was no 'clean way' to take them out.

"They gave us a lot of options," Tracey said.

One was the clinical trial being done by Dr. Freidman that actually injects parts of the herpes virus into the tumors, which is designed to cause the cancer cells to shut down.

Tracey said Kelsie is the seventh person to be in this trial and that the other six have seen good results.

Since starting the treatment, tests have shown shrinkage in the tumors.

"It's exciting," Tracey said.

Like Kelsie, Tracey said the love and support they have received from the community has been overwhelming.

"Before it was our little family at McCall taking care of us and now at Flomaton," Tracey said. "It's a blessing."

She said they have been trying to figure out ways to give back to Children's Hospital and help Dr. Freidman further his research. The 5-K run was part of that process.

"There's room for 18 more on the trial cure," Tracey said. "We want to see a cure for everybody.

Kelsie returned to Flomaton High School last Monday for the first time since Jan. 16 when the cancer returned.

This past Saturday, students and parents alike took to the streets of Flomaton to help raise money and awareness in hopes for a cure for Kelsie and others.