Community wears gold at high school football game to raise awareness to pediatric cancer

 

WAUKESHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Friday night lights at one Waukesha County school have a gold shimmer tonight, as the student body uses the color to draw attention to pediatric cancer on Friday, Sept. 15. 

Pediatric cancer has sadly touched the Arrowhead family multiple times. Those who lost a child to it have deep appreciation for the support they continue to feel by the community, even years after the early days of diagnosis.

It's all about the red and white for Warhawks on the field, but for fans in the stands, it's all about the gold.

"I know they're awesome. Anything for dressing up, right?" Said Tammy Mertens with the Emma Loves Dogs Foundation. 

These parents cannot be more appreciative. It's childhood cancer awareness month, and the color is gold. 

"And it's funny because when we were choosing the dates, they were like careful to select the date that the opponent wasn't a team who wears gold," said Heidi Frank with the Little Warrior Foundation. 

Frank was there to spread awareness in a community that lost a student. Ian Lang graduated with the class of 2021 in a hospital bed. 

Frank's nine-year-old son Gus is in remission right now. 

He still goes in for regular scans and imaging, but the further you get out from a pediatric cancer diagnosis, the better your prognosis gets. That's very promising, but you just never know, and the threat of recurrence is what keeps parents like us up at night because should your child relapse especially with a rare cancer, there are very few treatment options," said Frank. 

Emma Mertens was seven when her parents first heard about brain cancer, known as DIPG. 

"And it's very aggressive and the survival rate is zero percent. She was diagnosed and we were told she has between six and 10 months to survive -59 and she made it 10 months after diagnosis," said Mertens.

Tammy remembers Emma as a kind and spunky little girl who loved dogs. The Mertens now lead the Emma Loves Dogs Foundation which this year, through donations, purchased the very first canine for the Oconomowoc Police Department. 

As for on the field, it was Arrowhead vs. Waukesha North High School.