A 5-year-old girl is fighting brain cancer. Sunday's bake sale could help her family

HAWTHORNE — A local couple whose daughter is stricken with an aggressive form of brain cancer have relied on the kindness of strangers to make ends meet for almost two years.

There was the carefree life that Sarah and Patrick Ferguson knew before their child’s diagnosis, and their life now – marked by mental stress and frequent money woes.

Natalie, who turned 5 in July, was diagnosed with an anaplastic ependymoma, a tumor, in November 2020.

A mysterious limp on her right leg was the first signal that something was terribly wrong.

When the family’s pediatrician could not figure out what was causing it, the Fergusons turned to an orthopedist. But after Natalie’s X-ray showed no fracture, the girl – then only 3 – had to see a neurologist for an MRI scan.

There was a mass on the left side of her brain.

“It was definitely a shock,” said Sarah Ferguson, 34, a native of Leonia. “You just feel numb. You don’t know how to react – it’s not something you ever expect to hear.”

Natalie underwent surgery to remove the tumor, followed by 33 rounds of proton therapy, a type of radiation, at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick. The treatment killed all the malignant cells, but she relapsed in March.

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A second craniotomy was performed on the girl, who then had another five rounds of radiation. She now receives chemotherapy every other week.

Natalie’s brain will need to be monitored by periodic scans for the rest of her life, her mother said.

She still walks with an unsteady gait, but the cancer has not impacted her ability to learn. Her mother said she is curious and that she loves to play with her baby sister, Margot. Her favorite band is Red Hot Chili Peppers, and she will dress up as a Minecraft video game character for Halloween.

Ferguson said she and her husband are counting their blessings.

She said they are grateful to the many friends, neighbors and total unknowns who continue to be there for them.

On Sunday, a group of fifth graders from Roosevelt and Washington schools will hold a fundraiser to collect money for the family.

Lauren Lazzaro never met Ferguson, but she said her 10-year-old daughter, Madeline, was touched by details of Natalie’s story posted to social media and that she and her friends wanted to help.

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They will sell baked goods and handmade jewelry from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lazzaro residence, at 136 Seventh Ave.

More than $27,900 was raised for the family, as of Thursday afternoon, through two online fundraisers: one started in March by Ferguson’s sister, and a second created last week by Ferguson herself, specifically to collect money for a new car.

The couple rents a two-bedroom apartment and makes do with one vehicle, a Kia Sorento. Ferguson’s husband is a truck driver for PepsiCo Inc. “If it weren’t for the help of our community, we’d be financially ruined,” she said. “We wouldn’t make it through.”

After Natalie’s most recent scan, doctors noticed what could be another growth. It concerned them, Ferguson said, but they did not determine that it is a third tumor. She said her family is praying for better news as her daughter prepares for her next scan.

“It changes you in every way imaginable,” she said. “It’s not something that you ever expect to happen, and then, when it does, it just affects every part of your life.”

Philip DeVencentis is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: devencentis@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Hawthorne girl, 5, fights brain cancer. Bake sale will help her family