By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
SUAMICO – Bay Port senior soccer player Delaney Wahl is the biggest Green Bay Packers fan she knows.
That’s why getting to meet Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers April 12 was a special moment in time for her.
The visit for Wahl and her family was made possible by the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Bergstrom Automotive.
Make-A-Wish arranges experiences described as “wishes” to children diagnosed with critical illnesses.
Wahl is like a lot of teenagers – athletic, strong, kind, sarcastic, plays soccer, loves to shop and is fun, but you wouldn’t guess the 18-year old is living with a rare form of cancer called Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma (EHE).
EHE is a vascular sarcoma that primarily affects adolescents and young adults.
It’s characterized by unpredictable tumors that form on blood vessels, most commonly found in the arms, legs, lungs and liver.
EHE affects only a few hundred people per year.
“The Make-A-Wish kids knew that Rodgers was going to be there, but we had to keep it quiet,” said Wahl. “Then all of a sudden, he walked into the room, and I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ The whole time he was there, he walked around and talked to the kids and their families. It was getting close to the end of his time there, and I was the last person that got to see him. I shook his hand, and said to him, ‘Hi, nice to meet you – I’m Laney.’ He said, ‘Nice to meet you – I’m Aaron.’ I had a bag of EHE Foundation stuff with a ‘Team Laney’ shirt in there. I told him that I wore a lot of stuff with his name on the back, so I figured we could switch roles and he could wear something with my name on it. He smiled and said, ‘That sounds good – that’s pretty clever.’ He took the time to ask me about my last appointment and learn about all the families. It was really awesome.”
Before her visit with Rodgers, Wahl and her family were able to vacation in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean as part of her Make-A-Wish trip.
“It didn’t even seem real because it was so gorgeous,” Wahl said. “My life is hectic with running the foundation and playing soccer, so it was awesome to go on a trip for a week and have no stress. I didn’t have to worry about doctor’s visits, practice and meetings. It was so calm for my family and me.”
Wahl, who moved to Green Bay in 2017 from Virginia after her father retired from the military, said she started getting shooting pains in her left arm when she was 8.
She was a full-time gymnast at the time, so the doctors treated her for tendinitis.
Eventually, the pain got to be constant, and her arm would give out.
After a few years of ‘fighting’ with the doctors and not having them give her scans, it got to the point where Wahl could see a tumor on her arm because it was so big.
She was 12 at the time.
Doctors finally did a scan, and the tumor showed up.
Wahl was officially diagnosed with EHE in 2014 after being misdiagnosed early on – a common occurrence with the disease.
Due to the rarity of the cancer, there is currently no cure or set treatment plan, and funds for research are lacking.
Most funds are raised directly by the families affected.
Because of this, Wahl and her family started a non-profit – The EHE Foundation – in 2015 to raise money for research.
Wahl’s type of cancer does not respond well to the typical chemo and radiation treatments, so everyone is treated differently.
As Wahl pointed out, “Some treatments work for others that wouldn’t work for me.”
Wahl is currently on a drug that is commonly used as an anti-rejection medication for organ transplants.
She also takes anti-nausea medication before soccer games or working out because getting her heart rate up so high makes her nauseous.
As long as she does that, she feels fine during strenuous activities.
Wahl was a part of Bay Port’s 2018 WIAA Division 1 state championship soccer team, and she’s hoping the Pirates can repeat again this year.
“I still think about it a lot, but we all agreed coming into the season that we wouldn’t talk about last year,” she said. “We lost a good portion of our lineup from last season, and this year is a different team.”
Wahl still goes to school full-time and plays soccer, and said she will continue to fight for those affected with EHE.
“When I was diagnosed with EHE, there were 11 teenagers worldwide at the time that were officially diagnosed,” said Wahl. “Of those 11, there are only four of us left, so that’s what drives me to continue the fight. With any job, there are days I say, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore.’ Working with a cancer foundation has a lot of sadness – it’s a hard job. Having the motivation that I’m losing friends keeps driving me.”
Wahl said that although finding a cure is the ultimate goal, finding a treatment plan is the first step.
“When we first started the foundation, it was grassroots and everything went through my house,” Wahl said. “Now we’ve grown to have two sister foundations – one in Australia and one in England. My mom (Julie) is the president of the foundation overall, but not everything comes through us anymore. The foundation has grown so much.”
You can also help support Wahl, EHE research and others affected with the cancer by participating in the Fourth Annual EHE Foundation Virtual 5k.
If you are in the Green Bay area, the event will take place at the Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve in Suamico Sunday, April 28, at 1 p.m.
One hundred percent of the donations and profits from this event will be dedicated to EHE research.
This event is “virtual,” which means it can be done anywhere you are located if you can’t make it to the actual event.
You can complete the 3.1 miles by running, walking, crawling, rollerskating or any other form of exercise.
Organizers just ask you complete it any time between April 23-30 so all participants are doing it together.
“That week in April, you can do your 5k,” Wahl added. “You can do it on your own time or there are lots of scheduled events – including ours – where you can participate. We don’t care if you walk to the fridge 167 times to complete your 5k, just as long as you do it. There will be food, games, raffles, lots of fun and an opportunity to enjoy the trails.”
To donate to EHE research or to register for the virtual 5k, log on to fightehe.org.