T-Shirts To Help Oak Street 4th Grader Diagnosed With Cancer

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Katie King is a 10-year-old Basking Ridge student who’s life was turned upside down this past summer when she was suddenly diagnosed with Metastatic Ewing Sarcoma — a rare cancerous tumor that grows in the bones or in the tissue around bones.

“It came out of blue,” said Kristin Koes-McQuaid, King’s neighbor. “She was playing in a lacrosse tournament only three weeks before she was diagnosed. She was totally fine.”

King, an Oak Street fourth grader, had always been a “super athletic kid” playing in lacrosse and soccer.

In August, she started having pain in her back which were thought to just be muscle spasms because she was athletic.

But within a matter of three days, King started dragging her foot and wasn’t able to walk then couldn’t even stand.

King was rushed to the emergency room where they found a large tumor pressing on a nerve in her spine. They removed it, however it was found that the tumor had metastasized into her right arm, lungs, spine, sternum, ribs and bone marrow.

King is now in a wheelchair and suffers from a lot of pain. She has already undergone three rounds of chemotherapy.

"Katie has a long year of treatments ahead — I believe she has 14 more chemo treatments that are all given in Philadelphia and require overnight stays of between two to six nights each and she will have six continuous weeks of radiation (seven days per week) in which she and her mom will have to stay in Philadelphia for the entire six weeks," Koes-McQuaid said.

To help her still interact with her friends and classmates, King has a robot named “Vigo” that goes to school for her. "Vigo" essentially moves with an iPad attached to it that streams King through it.

“The kids at school can see her and she can steer it with her home computer,” Koes-McQuaid said. “Basically it’s like she is there but not really there. It allows her to see her friend since she is so isolated and misses them.”

Koes-McQuaid wanted to do something for the King family so she started “Katie’s Krew” where anyone can buy T-shirts in support of Katie. All proceeds go towards the King family.

“I wanted to raise money primarily, but also so she knows people are thinking about her,” Koes-McQuaid said.

The T-shirts represent all of King’s favorite things such as a soccer ball, a lacrosse stick and they are in her favorite color, purple.

“My daughter passed away from cancer and I know it gets ungodly expensive,” Koes-McQuaid said. “Hospital bills, hotels, parking, tolls, food all add up when you are traveling to Philadelphia for treatments.”

“And insurance only covers so much and doesn’t cover any of the incidentals like their mortgage,” Koes-McQuaid said.

Koes-McQuaid is hoping enough people will buy the shirts to show the King family, who include Katie, her mom Kim, dad DJ and brother Jake that people are thinking about them.

“We are hoping to ‘paint the town purple’ with these shirts,” Koes-McQuaid said.

For more information on the fundraiser or to buy a shirt visit www.customink.com/fundraising/katies-crew or to donate directly to the Katie King Foundation, checks can be sent to 1 Brentwood Court, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920.

(Images via King Family: Katie King and her robot Vigo.)

Have a news tip? Email alexis.tarrazi@patch.com.

Get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here.