Bring your flashy rides to fundraiser for MS Coast boy with rare, incurable brain cancer
A fundraiser to benefit Andre White, a 12-year-old Gulfport boy fighting a rare and incurable brain cancer, is set for Saturday (Sept. 24) at War Memorial Park in Pass Christian.
Andre’s Cruise In Against Cancer kicks off at 4 p.m. on Scenic Drive for the boy who has “a big passion for anything on wheels,” the event organizer, John Segretto, said in a message promoting the event.
The public is invited to join in by bringing their cars, trucks and bikes to the event.
Andre, the son of Crystal Henry and Mark Andre White, has been undergoing treatment since doctors diagnosed him in June with the brain cancer called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG.
Cat Island Coffee House is donating food and selling $10 food plates at the event. All the money raised and any donations will go to Andre’s family to help with medical expenses and care for Andre.
Andre is back home after a brief stay at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson last week, Henry said.
Since his diagnosis, Andre has undergone radiation and other treatments.
His family planned to meet with representatives of Mississippi’s Make a Wish Foundation on Thursday to try to arrange a special wish for Andre during his fight against cancer.
Andre is among a growing number of Mississippi Coast children to suffer from DIPG.
DIPG is a cancer that forms on the pons of the brain and spreads like sand. The cancer mainly affects children and slowly takes away their ability to walk, talk, see and hear.
Since 2010, at least four South Mississippi children have died of DIPG, prompting parents to question why so many children in the area are dying of a cancer that is supposed to be so rare that it affects only 300 children nationwide each year.
A Gofundme account is also set up to help Andre and his family.
Another fundraiser set Saturday is the SoSo Strong Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation’s gala at the Beau Rivage Casino & Resort in Biloxi. The foundation is a non-profit group that raises money to help families of children fighting DIPG and pediatric brain tumors and to help fund research to find a cure for DIPG.
The SoSo Strong Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation was set up in honor and memory of Sophia Ann Myers, who died of DIPG at the age 7 in October 2017. Her parents are Angel Myers McIlrath and Joshua Myers, both of Ocean Springs. The gala kicks off at 6:30 p.m. in Biloxi.
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