KING COUNTY, Wash. — For 16-year-old Mercy Haub, her mission to end cancer started at a young age, when her best friend’s father lost his battle with the disease.
“I’ve wanted to contribute my efforts to the fight against cancer for the majority of my life,” Haub said.
The Shoreline teen joined the 2020 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Students of the Year campaign to raise money and awareness. LLS Students of the Year is a philanthropic leadership program that encourages students to develop skills to help fund groundbreaking research.
Haub promised to shave her head and donate the hair if she raised more than $30,000 for LLS. But this moment of celebration in the summer of 2020 was short-lived. Weeks later, Haub was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma.
“It was a sad moment. I will also say there was hope in there because she knew what she had worked so hard for, and what so many people were working hard for, to help her and help these other patients,” said Danica Smith, LLS campaign manager.
Smith offered guidance to Haub throughout the fundraising competition and continued to be there for Haub after the diagnosis.
“She had this sense of grace and a sense of poise that stayed with her, and that kept her going because she knew the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society was behind her,” Smith said.
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The Shorewood High School junior started treatment in November and remained optimistic throughout her difficult journey.
“I had this kind of hope that people at the LLS, and the people who had done the things I had done being in the Students of the Year Program—there were people working to help me now,” Haub said.
The teenager has spent much of her life dedicated to helping others. It was during these challenging months of treatment that Haub said she saw an overwhelming amount of love and support when she needed it the most.
On Haub’s final day of chemotherapy in March, friends, neighbors and loved ones lined the streets to celebrate this milestone as Haub’s parents drove her to the hospital.
“If all our volunteers would have the drive that she has, I think starting as a fundraiser, and then being a patient and continuing to say, ‘What can I do next,’” Smith said.
When Haub rang the gong at Seattle Children’s Hospital, she was surrounded by nurses, doctors and hospital staff. Haub said she was excited to look ahead to a bright future without cancer and to continue her work to find a cure for the disease.
“Hopefully, provide a face to my peers, when we are working towards this cure scientifically and say I am still here because someone thought, ‘Why don’t we try this kind of drug?’ And so we should have that same attitude and hopefully save lives.”
Click here for information on the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Students of the Year campaign.
Cox Media Group
