After Outpouring of Love, Mom of Boy With Cancer Says Sam's Heroes Foundation Next

NORTH FORK, NY - After a team of superheroes battled the foe this weekend and shaved their heads to help Samuel Duffy, 5, who lives in Greenport and was diagnosed last year with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, his mom, Holly Lanzetta, said the event, held at First and South, was just the kickoff to an ongoing campaign to raise funds and awareness of childhood cancers.

Lanzetta, who embarked on a mission to create the “Sam’s Heroes” team, under the auspices of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, was one of those who shaved their heads to raise funding for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

While the event raised more than $22,000, with more coming in, Lanzetta said the event was not for her son, but for his friends, and all the other children battling cancer.

A new foundation is planned

Down the line, the goal is to create a Sam's Heroes foundation; once the concept is born, Lanzetta said superheroes will visit children battling cancer in the hospital; funding will also help children at Halloween who may not be able to afford their own superhero or favorite costume. The foundation will seek to raise awareness and funding for research, she said.

She and her beautiful boy have taken what could have seemed an insurmountable challenge and turned it into a beautiful mission to help not only her own child, but children everywhere faced with cancer.

Saturday's event, Lanzetta said, was meant as a kickoff event, to raise awareness — but it is just the beginning.

She currently wears a button with the words "Bald by choice" to highlight that while she and the others who participated in the Shave-a-thon have the choice to go bald, children battling cancer do not.

At the event, Lanzetta gave a heartfelt speech: "I am Holly Lanzetta, today known as 'Golden Fury, my superhero name of the day. I am 'Mom' to my heroes, Troy Lanzetta, and Sam Duffy. . . There is so much to share and I hope Dr. Meyer helped illuminate the truth that childhood cancer is not the same as adults', it is not rare, it is grossly underfunded, and the treatments must change."

This week marked one year since Sam was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, otherwise known as ALL, a cancer of the blood, she said.

"Sam is still in treatment. He is currently in remission on maintenance with two-and-a-half years left of chemotherapy, through IVs and pills. I give Sam a collection of pills every day, sometimes up to 14 a day. These pills cause cognitive damage, make him vomit, make his whole body ache, kill his taste buds, make it painful to walk sometimes, cause infertility, and most likely, cause heart problems for him. While I am led to believe that these treatments are the best way to save his life, I feel incredible guilt knowing I am a participant in causing these damages."

The facts

She also gave statistics: Four out of five children with cancer survive. Of those that survive, two out of three will suffer long-term effects from treatment. A recent study shows that by the time they are 45 years old, more than 95 percent of childhood cancer survivors will have chronic health problems and 80 percent will have severe or life-threatening conditions, Lanzetta said.

"And yet, there is no one on the National Cancer Advisory Board representing childhood cancer. Amazing to me. Sam is a pretty lucky kid. He has to have some physical and occupational therapy, and will need school support for cognitive issues when he starts. Not because of leukemia, but because of the treatments. He has friends that have a much more difficult time with treatment, like Jesse."

Jesse, who attended the event, "was just months away from completing his treatment when he relapsed, and now he has been fighting this cancer villain for more than five years," Lanzetta said. "Jesse is our number one inspiration, and our friend."

The reason why Lanzetta chose St. Baldrick's, she said, was that "their research improves treatments to lower the toxicity that causes these kinds of problems. Their research also helps survivors deal with the consequences of the treatments that cured them. In short, what we fund today in this room can help the rest of Sam’s life, and his friends’ lives."

A team of angels

As a single mom, Lanzetta said when the idea for the event first was born, she said, "I am a usually broke, unemployed single mom who was hoping to get enough of my neighbors down to the local bar to raise $500 to put in the St. Baldrick’s kitty. I told some awesome friends, and they told their awesome friends, and so on. And now, we have raised over $20,000."

She added, "So what does this mean going forward? What have we done here today? Some of the money can hire researchers for the St. Baldrick’s Dream Team of researchers, it can help fund immunotherapy studies, a very promising field where the body’s own immune system can be trained to fight itself and only target cancer cells. There is a lot of exciting research being done right now."

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month, she said. And Lanzetta wants the gold ribbon, which is the symbol of childhood cancer, to become as well known as the pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness. "This is why I am Golden Fury, because I am hoping to raise awareness and make a difference. Shavees, when people ask you if they can still support your going bald after this party, well, of course they can. Your donations have just begun."

To make a donation, bring donations to One Love Beach or click here..

Chatty Allen, one of those that shaved her head, said she was moved by the event. "It felt wonderful to know that I was going 'Bald by choice' and helping to do my part in raising money an awareness for childhood cancer." She added that meeting Jesse was a life-changing moment. "All I did was take my hair off. This child has been dealing with leukemia for five years. Yet, he not only shaved his head but he wanted Sam to do it. That is true bravery and courage."

Lanzetta said she wanted to thank the many volunteers who helped bring the event to life, with special recognition given to Blake Dowling, co-owner of One Love Beach, who worked tirelessly to organize the event and whose efforts were herculean.

Down the line, Lanzetta hopes to plan another event on a larger scale.

One of the best feelings, Lanzetta said, was watching her son Troy Lanzetta shave his head. "I showed my boys what one person can do. That's huge," she said.

And then, there was the moment that would bring any parent to tears: "When Sam was falling asleep that night he said, 'Thank you for shaving your head for my friends, Mom.' It doesn't get any better than that."

Patch courtesy photos.