One-Year-Old, Cancer Free

By Lilly Adkins

BSN Associate Editor

LOUISA —An 8-month-old baby, Natalie Hampton was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancer that developed from immature nerve cells found in the body, and now at the age of 1-year-old, she is cancer free.

Natalie has a twin sister Peyton, and their parents are Leah Rene Hampton and Mark Hampton. The couple held their girl’s first-birthday party at the Methodist Church in Louisa, which was also a fundraiser.

Leah Rene Hampton said that her daughter, Natalie was diagnosed right at 8 months old and that she had done her chemo treatments at Edwards Comprehensive Cancer Center in Huntington, W.Va.

“She completed four treatments,” Hampton said. “On June 13, she had her tumor removed at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. On June 7, Natalie and her twin sister turned 1-year-old. We celebrated on June 24, to give Natalie time to heal from surgery. We celebrated with family and friends with wonderful food, a beautiful cake and precious decorations. All was donated by members of the Louisa Community.”

Hampton said via email that the Louisa Fire Department brought a firetruck and gave the kids firetruck rides and they loved it.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better day,” Hampton said. “My husband, Mark Hampton and I have four children. Natalie has her twin sister, Peyton, and also has an older sister Raylee, who is 14-years-old and another older sister, Braelynn, who is 7-years-old.”

“We would like to thank everyone that came out and celebrated Natalie and Peyton’s first-birthday. We would also like to thank Treena Jo Marcum for planning a great party, Cassie Burgess for the amazing birthday cake, Louisa Fire Department for bringing trucks for demonstrations and rides, Tom and Heather Frazier for providing food for everyone and 3 Sisters for the beautiful decorations,” the Hamptons said in a post on Facebook. “We are so thankful for the wonderful community we live in.”

Hampton said they had friends, family and generous people form the Louisa, Fort Gay community, along with others from different areas that donated to a fund made for Natalie, which was a huge weight lifted from their shoulders.

“My husband and I were able to use that money to help with food, gas, overnight stays in the hospital and also travel expenses when we had to go to Columbus for her care,” Hampton said. “We quickly realized how blessed we were. It doesn’t matter what kind of job you have, when your family is hit with this kind of situation, everything such as food, gas, medicines, travel expenses, all add up quickly and it gets expensive fast.”

For those who would like to contribute to Natalie’s fund, her mother has a Facebook pay and PayPal. Her Facebook is Leah Rene Hampton and her PayPal is @markhampton84. If necessary, Hampton said she could meet with someone locally or if they would like to mail something to her, they can send it to her mailing address at Leah Rene Hampton, 698 Grassy Fork of Mill Creek Road, Genoa, W.Va., 25517.