Community rallies around Mt. Pleasant Township teen with cancer

A cancerous tumor in his leg isn't slowing down 15-year-old Brady Hunker.

The Mt. Pleasant Area High School sophomore took a few final passes on his skates with his inline hockey team this week ahead of a surgery planned for next week, said his mother, Jen Hunker.

“It's been a very emotional last couple of months and very scary,” she said.

Some of the fear has been allayed by comforting words of friends and family and the deluge of fundraising events for the Mt. Pleasant Township family over the past few months, Hunker said. They have been making regular trips to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh for treatment of Ewing's sarcoma. Events planned for this weekend and in November — a talent show and two spaghetti dinners — are dedicated to offsetting some of the travel expenses and medical bills.

Friend and sophomore classmate Chloe Jaworski has assembled 23 acts for Brady's Bunch of Talent on Saturday at the Mt. Pleasant Area High School auditorium. District student acts include dancing, a band, a vocalist, juggling and gymnastics, she said.

“He is just the epitome of a great person, and that's what made me want to do something,” Jaworski said.

There will be a special, “secret” performance from a female vocalist, she said. The grand finale will include all performers singing Brady's favorite song — “Don't Stop Believin' ” by Journey, she said.

“He was my locker buddy,” Jaworski said. “He was my go-to person pretty much for everything. He was so helpful, and he still is.”

Joe Tandarich and his wife are organizing a spaghetti dinner in United for Brady, who is their neighbor.

“Once I saw Brady … I could see the big difference from when he was healthy as to when he got sick,” Tandarich said. “I feel bad. I see the toll it's taken on him.”

Brady was diagnosed with the rare childhood bone cancer in his right leg on July 11, Hunker said.

It was a shock to the family — Brady has been playing ice and inline hockey for 10 years and, just before the diagnosis, he bicycled 334 miles between Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., with his father. In May and June, Brady complained occasionally of muscle cramping and foot numbness. But when pain relievers and ice didn't help swelling in his leg, the family soon learned something more serious was happening, Hunker recalled.

But aside from the bald head as a result of treatments, Brady is still the same kid, his mother said.

“The words that we're getting from our friends mean so much,” she said.

Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-837-5374 or rsignorini@tribweb.com.