A young Delaware County girl battling cancer received a hero’s welcome when she returned home Monday after several months of chemotherapy.
Last May the parents of 7-year-old Cameron McCarthy, of Aston, Pennsylvania, noticed there was something wrong with her eye. After going to the doctor she was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.
After her diagnosis, Cameron was taken out of school and spent months in the hospital for treatment. Late Monday morning, after undergoing her 17th and final round of chemotherapy, Cameron finally left AI DuPont Hospital in Delaware.
“She’s been through 17 rounds of chemo,” said Cameron’s father Mike McCarthy. “She had proton therapy done also, 31 times. She’s tough.”
A stretch limo with a police and fire escort took her home to Aston where she was greeted by the entire community.
Cameron’s first stop during her homecoming was the Pennell Elementary School where classmates dressed in blue -- her favorite color -- held up signs showing their support. She then finally returned to her home on Morgan Road where she was greeted by her family, friends and more supporters, including Philadelphia Union goalie John McCarthy (no relation). John was asked to send her a signed ball a few months ago. He decided to do more than that.
“I said no I’d like to go visit her because you never know when a tough time like that happens you don’t know what can happen,” he said. “So I thought I’d give it a whirl and give it all I could.”
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While Cameron was too tired to talk to NBC10 Monday, her parents told us her prognosis looks good.
“In the beginning you feel like you’re never going to get there so for her to have her last chemotherapy today, is amazing,” Cameron’s mom Laurie McCarthy said. “She was up for the challenge I guess.”
