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6/11/2015
Ilaria Easom was just 3 years old when doctors found a fist-sized cancerous tumor in her chest. The tumor had collapsed her right lung, squeezed her heart and twisted itself around her trachea.
Her parents, Colin and Lina Easom, consented to intense radiation therapy and high doses of chemotherapy — knowing the radiation could cause adult cancers later, and the chemo would trigger hearing loss.
Ilaria underwent surgery for the yolk sac tumor. Her follow-up treatment resulted in a 45 percent hearing loss. But Ilaria was alive, and her cancer went into remission.
It remains in remission now that she’s 12.
The family’s journey affected it deeply, and for years the Easoms have helped other families dealing with pediatric cancers. They have hosted and participated in fundraisers since 2006 — raising about $20,000 — to fund pediatric cancer research and to help families financially.
