Benefits Give ‘Hope’ to Teen Fighting Cancer

A 17-year-old Tunkhannock Area High School senior got a pleasant surprise Sunday afternoon, when a lot of people she never met and quite a few she did know had turned out for a pasta benefit in her honor at Bartolai Winery in Harding.

Hunter Jones seemed fine on Sunday, but noted that on Monday she would be getting advice for a chemo- and radiation therapy regimen to battle two cancers that showed up this fall in the teen’s body.

Some routine blood work done for Jones in September at a Tunkhanock High School blood drive revealed an iron deficiency that, after further investigation, actually was diagnosed to be colon cancer — a rarity for someone her age.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, after she had a colonoscopy, she discovered that she was having problems walking and her anesthesiologist, Dr. Mary Herman, wouldn’t sign off on sending her home.

Her mother, Mary Jones, got a call the next day revealing that Hunter also had a brain tumor.

Hunter acknowledged Sunday that the initial diagnoses were a jolt.

“But, I’m so grateful for the care I’ve received from Drs. Rick Focht, Kristen Halm and Herman,” she said. “They’ve been there for me.”

picture: http://www.queenieaustralia.com/red-carpet-celebrity-dresses

She also said of the turnout Sunday, “This is mostly from people I don’t know. It’s unbelievable that people would do this.”

Of those she recognized, she pointed to two tables filled with fellow volunteers from Cinderella’s Closet, a non-profit that makes gently used evening dresses available for those who can’t afford them otherwise.

She also volunteers for Big Brothers Big Sisters and Marleys Mission, because she’s always had a giving spirit, Hunter said.

Now she’s facing medical expenses that are only likely to keep going up, at least for the next six months when she hopes to finally get a clean bill of health.

‘We’re taking it one day at a time, and grateful to so many people,” her mother, Mary Jones, said.

Winery owner...