Pensacola celebrates Carolyn Hendrix's victory over cancer

Tiny Carolyn Hendrix beat cancer.

 

The beautiful, almost always smiling, bald-headed 4-year-old says it means she can now "jump on trampolines, wrestle daddy and play in jumpy houses again."

 

The Pensacola community, including the Pensacola Blue Wahoos baseball players, staff and fans, surrounded Carolyn and her family as if in a great big embrace during her yearlong struggle with a rare bone cancer called Ewings Sarcoma.

 

Carolyn's daddy, Jeff, says the community support played a big role in keeping the spirits up for him, his wife, Kathryn, and two older sons, Stephen, 12, and Bennett, 8.

 

"It was absolutely amazing. We're pretty ecstatic," he says. "We couldn't of done this without the community's support. It makes it a whole lot easier when you know you're not going through this by yourself."

 

Carolyn's cancer, which affects about 250 children a year, was first diagnosed by Sacred Heart Children's Hospital doctors in June 2013, after she had complained of having a stomachache. She underwent a surgery to remove the tumor in her ribs and about nine months of chemotherapy to make sure every microscopic cancer cell was eliminated.

 

On May 30 the family announced on their "Praying for Carolyn" Facebook page, which has 27,000-plus likes: "We got some great news today. Carolyn is officially cancer free!!! No Evidence of Disease. (NED). Thank you everyone for all of the prayers and support!"

 

Talking about the news fills 6-foot-4, 226-pound Wahoos first baseman Travis "Moose" Mattair's light blue eyes with tears. He saw the post late that night on the bus ride home after a doubleheader with the Mississippi Braves.

 

"They had not given her a very high percentage to live," Mattair says. "She has had so much joy, so much fight and courage. It's amazing. It really is a miracle."

 

Mattair has followed her progress through his host mother, Margie Moore, who knows the family. He helped establish pink "Praying for Carolyn" bracelets that his teammates have worn and that have been sold at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium to raise money for her fight against cancer.

 

In April, Carolyn was selected for the Wahoos monthly "Homerun for Life." An emotional stadium cheers on a sick local child as they round the bases giving high fives to players from both teams who stand along the base paths.

 

During her turn, Carolyn was too weak to attend and instead 8-year-old Bennett rounded them for her.

 

Jeff Hendrix says his daughter gives him inspiration.

 

"She's a real trooper," he says. "It has not been all smiles. Lots of times she has hurt and not felt good. But she can always put a smile on. She doesn't know yet the profound difference her life will be. She still thinks everyone who is four or five gets cancer."

 

The family plans to focus their future efforts on raising money to battle childhood cancer.

 

"If your house is on fire, you get the kids out first," Hendrix says. "If your boat is sinking, you put the kids on the raft first. In the cancer world, it's backwards. Kids don't have a voice like adults do."

 

The Blue Wahoos are scheduled to host a "Shave-a-Thon" on Sunday, June 22 when the gates open before the 4 p.m. game with the Huntsville Stars. Carolyn and the Hendrix family plan to be there. So does Mattair, who vows to shave his head.

 

"I'm going to give Carolyn a big, big hug that I've wanted to give her for a long time," the 25-year-old ball player says. "You know what? Baseball is so little compared to Carolyn and her fight every day for her life."