Ethan
Toohey knows God is watching over him
Ethan Toohey
(Sarah
Webb)
By CHRISTIE L. CHICOINE
CS&T Staff Writer
If you’re a child who has cancer, don’t be afraid
to cry.
“I’m OK with that — that happened to me,”
said 12-year-old Ethan Toohey, a member of St. Martin of
Tours Parish in New Hope who is battling abdominal cancer.
At the same time, Ethan advises, be brave. “It’s
OK to be upset at first, but just keep on living with it
until it’s gone.”
To cope with his cancer, Ethan knows he can count on his
family and friends, his parish and his Catholic faith. “I
always know [God is] watching over people like me,”
Ethan said. “I know that He’s helping me.”
But even in his conversations with God, Ethan thinks of
others besides himself. “I usually pray that everybody
in the whole world is OK.”
Ethan, a sixth-grader at New Hope Solebury Middle School,
attends the parish religious education program at St. Martin
of Tours.
He is the oldest of Martin and Diana Toohey’s three
children. His siblings are 10-year-old Patrick and 6-year-old
Juliana.
In April 2006, Ethan was diagnosed with a tumor in his abdomen.
He had been complaining of a recurring stomachache for 10
days.
A visit to the doctor revealed a hernia, which required
surgery. During his hernia surgery at Doylestown Hospital,
the cancer was discovered.
Ethan was immediately admitted to the Children’s Hospital
of Philadelphia, where his first round of chemotherapy was
administered.
Chemotherapy continued until February this year, at which
time Ethan was admitted to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
in Houston, Texas, where 95 percent of his tumor was removed.
On May 7, he began taking an antibody drug in a clinical
trial to target the remaining five percent that could not
be surgically removed.
“Right now, I’m actually feeling great —
for having a very serious surgery a couple months ago,”
he said.
In his free time, Ethan likes to swim, play video games
and read action-adventure and science fiction books.
He is grateful for the generous outpouring of prayers by
family and friends — and for the presents he’s
received. Among his favorites is the Nintendo DS that friends
and their families from his school and parish gave him on
his 10th birthday. “I was surprised — and I
still play the DS now,” he said.
He also received a few “tattoos” or, as Ethan
explains, “smudged dots.”
When radiation treatments were initially planned for Ethan,
doctors had to prep him by placing several pen-point-sized
permanent marks on his abdomen. “I’m pretty
much the only kid in middle school who has tattoos,”
Ethan said, even though “my Dad [has] said, ‘Do
not get tattoos in your life!’”
On May 9, a benefit concert for Ethan was held at St. Martin
of Tours Church.
To help defray medical and travel expenses related to Ethan’s
care, send contributions to: Toohey Family Fund, c/o Kathleen
Baty, 123 Equestrian Drive, New Hope, PA 18938.
To follow Ethan’s progress, visit the Web site www.caringbridge.org,
then write “ethantoohey” under the icon “Visit
a CaringBridge Web site.”
CS&T Staff Writer Christie L. Chicoine may be reached
at (215) 587-2468 or cchicoin@adphila.org.
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