13 Nov 2012

Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend Raise Awareness for WHO CARES: TEEN CANCER AMERICA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Rick Diamond/Getty Images

“However,” as Rolling Stone Magazine’s Peter Voskamp commented, “the only other wealthy rocker in the room happened to be Daltrey’s bandmate, Pete Townshend. Daltrey and Townshend joined teen cancer survivors and medical professionals on Monday to kick off Who Cares, and Daltrey was vocal about his cause. The initiative joins with hospitals to create facilities and support programs for cancer patients ages 13 to 24; as Daltrey explained to the audience, the organization began 22 years ago after he learned of a “huge gap in the health system” that offered no clinical recognition to teenage and young-adult cancer patients. All too often, they are recognized and treated insufficiently as either pediatrics or adults. However, as Daltrey noted, teenagers often suffer the most aggressive and rarest forms of cancers and are diagnosed later.

“At the luncheon, Daltrey spoke passionately of Who Cares, which relies solely on charitable donations; he explained from the stage that the trust aims to provide age-appropriate treatment in the right environments. It creates communities within hospitals to offer patients and their families built-in support groups to “unload some of the terror in their hearts.” He emphasized that six teenagers are diagnosed with some form of cancer every day and that Who Cares attempts to share that burden; its first U.S. facility, the UCLA Daltrey/Townshend Teen and Young Adult Zone, has treated 16 patients since its establishment in California one year ago. Who Cares is also working with Duke Children’s Hospital at Duke University in North Carolina.”

To make a donation to, get involved with or become a partner of Teen Cancer America, go to the charity’s website at http://teencanceramerica.org/

 “Teenagers don’t want teddybears. They should not feel like they’re being isolated . . . You should build a community within your hospital at the point of diagnosis.” – Roger Daltrey