Community Rallies Around Surfer Girl With Brain Tumor

The North County community is coming together Saturday to support a 16-year-old surfer who was diagnosed with brain cancer late last year.Kira Stanley, a junior at La Costa Canyon High School and surf instructor in Encinitas, was diagnosed with a form of brain cancer called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) on Nov. 9, 2017, father Robert Stanley told NBC 7. Feline Felony: Kitten Caper Caught by Home Surveillance “It started as double vision which we thought was her eyesight since she had astigmatism,” Robert wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to assist the family with medical costs. “We figured she needed to update her prescription and visited the optometrist.”After several failed diagnoses and trips to the emergency room, an MRI revealed a tumor inside her brain stem, Robert said. Prosecutor: Impostor Doctor Tried to Access Patient Records at Local Hospital The family talked to several different hospitals but ultimately decided to get Stanley’s treatment from a facility in Mexico. “A lot of people questioned our decision to go to Mexico, actually,” Robert said. “When you are trying to make a decision for your child, you are just doing the best you can with the information that’s available — and the best information we had came from other families with the exact same situation.” SDSO Investigating Reports of Cars Shot by BBs in Lakeside The treatment costs the family $20,000 to $35,000 every three weeks. A day-long fundraising event is being held Saturday to raise money for medical treatment. The two-part event included an early morning surf competition and an evening “party” in Carlsbad. “It was going to be just the surf contest including some of my surf teammates and anyone who wanted to be in it,” Kira said ahead of the event. “It just kind of blew up on the Internet and now it’s going to be hundreds of people showing up. Oh, man, it’s going to be crazy.”About 800 people had already registered for the evening event at Park 101 Carlsbad from 5 to 10 p.m. The party is meant to act as a “celebration” as well as a fundraiser, according to the event’s website. During the event will be a raffle and silent auction, with items donated by professional surfer Kelly Slater, whom Kira got to meet this week. “So Stoked that Kira had the chance to meet her surf hero Kelly Slater today,” an Instagram post read. “He was super cool and fun to hang out with. So awesome!”Kira has received widespread support from the community. The GoFundMe page created on her behalf has raised $315,000 since it was created two months ago.The event “started out as a little thing that we were going to do for Kira to help her feel better, maybe raise some funds, but really get all her surf buddies together and, like, celebrate her and now it’s just become almost a southern California movement in a way,” Robert said.Kira has received three treatments so far with another scheduled for next week. She has had one surgery to battle the cancerous tumor.”The results have been positive,” Robert told NBC 7. “The fact that (the tumor) hasn’t grown is kind of a big deal – a really big deal.”Photo Credit: Facebook/Kiraupdates This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.
Source: NBC San Diego