Words of Encouragement
Girls battling cancer declare visit with Bush 'cool'
WASHINGTON — They're in a tough fight with a vicious disease, but two girls from central Ohio emerged from the Oval Office and walked out of the White House onto the driveway yesterday with wide grins, official pins and presidential words of encouragement.
Hannah Lewis, 7, of Reynoldsburg, and Eden Adams, 8, of New Albany, who became friends as they underwent cancer treatment at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, were among those on hand to watch President Bush sign a pediatric-cancer bill into law.
The Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act was crafted by Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Upper Arlington, and named by lawmakers after her daughter, who died in 1999 at age 9 after battling neuroblastoma.
Both Hannah and Eden used the same word to describe meeting the president and first lady and being given presents and a tour of the Oval Office: Cool.
The signing ceremony was not open to the news media aside from still photographers, but Hannah's mother, Jessica Lewis, said Bush told the families that he knew “we were going through a tough time and wished us the best.”
Jessica Lewis and Eden's father, Rourke Adams, said they hope the next step this year will be for Congress to approve spending the first $30million installment of what the law calls for: $150 million over five years for such initiatives as expanded pediatric-cancer research and a national childhood-cancer database.
The single parents saw their friendship formed at the children's hospital — which paid for the families to attend the ceremony — blossom into a relationship.
“This is something we deal with every day,” Rourke Adams said about having a child who is battling cancer. Adams said it is his hope that a fully funded cancer database will give researchers more information about why children develop cancer.
After the signing ceremony, Pryce said she was delighted to see her legislation enacted.
The president and first lady spent a lot of time with the children and families, including Hannah's 5-year-old brother, Duncan, and Eden's 14-year-old brother, Riley, Pryce said.
As a child in 1953, Bush lost his 3-year-old sister, Robin, to leukemia, and the president told Pryce he was looking forward to telling his parents that he got to sign the pediatric-cancer bill into law, she added.
“This is a great step forward,” Pryce said. “We have been waiting for this day for years now.”
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