Former Osborn Hill School Student to be Remembered in Friday's St. Baldrick's Event

Edward "Teddy" Gerber was just 9 years old when he lost his battle with a rare form of cancer that had attached itself to his heart.

"It was just over nine months, his entire illness, start to finish," Jessica Gerber, Teddy's mother, said on Monday in an interview at Einstein Bros. Bagels on Black Rock Turnpike. "It was very fast."

Gerber said Teddy's diagnosis of undifferentiated cardiac sarcoma came out of the blue in November 2009 after she and her husband, Bill, thought Teddy, a third-grader at Osborn Hill School at the time, seemed down and couldn't figure out what was wrong.

At first, they thought Teddy was the victim of a bully, but several days later, they learned that he had a malignant tumor the size of a man's fist growing on his heart. "In five days, we went from thinking he had trouble with a kid in class to having a malignant tumor in his chest," she said.

Chemotherapy was of little help to Teddy and doctors were wary of operating on him due to the location of the tumor. "His heart and lungs were all involved with this tumor," Jessica Gerber said.

A doctor at New York Presbyterian Hospital successfully removed most of the tumor during a 10-hour operation in February 2010 and then removed the portion that was attached to his heart in a follow-up operation a week later, Jessica Gerber said.

Teddy continued radiation treatments but developed throat problems and had to be readmitted to Yale-New Haven Hospital last summer. A CT scan revealed that multiple tumors had come back around his chest and chest wall, and Teddy, an avid Boston Red Sox fan who loved to swim, read and play soccer, died on Aug. 16 at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Very little money spent on cancer research goes toward research into pediatric cancer, and standard methods of fighting cancer do not always work well with children, Jessica Gerber said.

On Friday, Osborn Hill School's Cub Scout Pack 199 is holding a fundraiser for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which provides funding for research into pediatric cancer, in memory of Teddy. As of early Monday afternoon, 87 people had signed up to have their heads shaved and $35,845 had been pledged for the event, which begins at 6 p.m. at the 760 Stillson Road elementary school.

Jim Muschett, cubmaster at Pack 199, estimated that 30 Cub Scouts from his pack, and another 10 from Pack 95 at North Stratfield School, had signed up to have their heads shaved. He said parents of Cub Scouts also had signed up.

Muschett, who is having his head shaved, said all 60 Cub Scouts in Pack 199 would help out at Friday's event. He said Cub Scouts have a community service side and that St. Baldrick's was a good event for Pack 199. "It's for kids with cancer, and we've had a lot of kids close to home who have had cancer," he said.

Tracey Smith, an organizer of Friday's St. Baldrick's event at Osborn Hill School, said Pack 199 has held the St. Baldrick's fundraiser for the past five years and that it grew out of "Team Brent," a well-known team of St. Baldrick's head-shavers and donors who rallied around Brent McCreesh, a Fairfield child who had been diagnosed with cancer and who is now doing well.

"Team Brent made a lot of people aware of pediatric cancer," Smith said, adding that elementary school students oftentimes are the best head-shavees because they aren't at an age when hair means very much to them.

Smith said last year's St. Baldrick's event at Osborn Hill School was in honor of Teddy because students, teachers and parents loved him. "We created Team Teddy to show our support for Teddy," she said.

Bill Gerber and John Gerber, Jessica's and Bill's oldest child, a seventh-grader at Roger Ludlowe Middle School, had their heads shaved last year and are doing it again this year. "He doesn't need haircuts anymore," Jessica Gerber said of her husband. "He just does St. Baldrick's."

"Most people actually look Ok, I've got to say," she added of those who have their heads shaved. "If you don't want to shave your head, you can support shavees."

Friday's St. Baldrick's event at Osborn Hill School will include hot dogs and fries for sale from Super Duper Weenie, a bake sale by Osborn Hill Girl Scouts, a dee-jay, raffles and a nail painting station for kids.

Last year's St. Baldrick's event at Osborn Hill School was special for Teddy because he no longer was the only bald person at his elementary school, Jessica Gerber said. She said Teddy took off his hooded sweatshirt at the event when he saw other people were bald too. "On a personal level, that night was just so special because he saw all his friends and he wasn't unique," she said.

Last year's event, combined with donations to the St. Baldrick's Foundation in Monrovia, Calif. after Teddy's death, raised $109,658. Jessica Gerber figured the event itself, which had 167 shavees, raised from $80,000 to $85,000, with the balance coming from donations after Teddy's passing.

Jessica said some people have mentioned the amount of money and shavees for this year's event aren't as high as last year, but she said any money that is raised is worthwhile. "Any amount of money we raise is still money we wouldn't have raised otherwise. It all goes right to the research. It's not like only a percentage does," she said. "It's great this money is going all toward where it's needed."

Muschett said donations and head shavees typically come in during the days leading up to the event. "Over the next few days, prior to it, is when we'll see the biggest amount of funds raised," he said. "I didn't know Teddy very well, but I have a son who's Teddy's age when he was ill. Compelling isn't a strong enough word [for donations.]"

Jessica Gerber said the St. Baldrick's Foundation is now the largest funding source for research into pediatric cancer. St. Baldrick's began in 2000, and, since then, more than 147,000 people have had their heads shaved and more than $90 million has been raised, according to the website, www.stbaldricks.org.

Jessica said her family is grateful for all of the help they received while Teddy was ill, from Teddy's teacher visiting his home to make sure he was up-to-date on his lessons to Osborn Hill families cooking meals for the family three times a week and hosting play dates. She said the St. Baldrick's event this year will remind her of all of the people who helped her family when Teddy was ill.

Teddy, during his illness, was focused on day-to-day challenges and not so much on the big picture, Jessica said. "The event this year is in his memory," she said.

For information and to make a pledge, visit www.stbaldricks.org, and navigate to Fairfield events.