Girl Faces Medical Emergency And Support From Neighborhood

BELLMORE, NY — A community is giving a virtual hug to a girl battling a pediatric form of cancer.

Alina Roseboom is a seven-year-old from Bellmore who was recently diagnosed with Wilms' tumor, a childhood cancer that starts in the kidneys.

Alina has to shuttle back to the hospital for treatments weekly and home on the off days, if no issues arise.

A GoFundMe page has more than $25,000 in donations, but Alina finds that "pretty scary" and "overwhelming."

The idea of facing this health crisis makes her "nervous."

"She didn't realize how many people are looking out for her," Alina's mom Pamela Roseboom told Patch.

After her initial hospital stay, friends and neighbors held a car parade to support Alina.

"People threw me presents," she said excitedly.

"Everyone has been so incredible," Pamela said. "People keep coming over with stuff to distract us."

Alina is a second-grader at the Reinhart Early Childhood Center in Bellmore. Her younger sister Ava is in the first grade.

For now, Alina will need to be homeschooled with virtual education, hoping to return by the end of the school year.

Pamela, who is an ultrasound technician, brought her daughter to the ER, thinking she had appendicitis, at worst.

Alina has a regimen of up to 12-weeks chemotherapy and radiation. Doctors will likely remove the large mass once it's reduced, her mother said.

In between her treatments, Alina has some good days when she enjoys FaceTime with her friends.

"It's a very good success rate," Pamela said of the Wilms prognosis.