Bethel girl’s cancer battle spurs LePage proclamation on childhood cancer

AUGUSTA – In honor of 10-year-old Hailey Steward, Gov. Paul LePage issued a proclamation Tuesday designating September as Childhood Cancer Awareness month.
As Hailey and her family, of Bethel, battle cancer, they also began the Hailey Hugs Team to support other families facing childhood cancer, to create a community and raise awareness, according to a news release from the state Republican office.

Sen. Lisa Keim, R-Oxford, presented the proclamation to Hailey and her family at the Maine Goes Gold Festival on Saturday, Sept. 2, in Bethel.
“This proclamation is a victory for Hailey Steward, her family and the Hailey Hugs Team,” said Keim. “Their persistent voices, diligently speaking up for children struggling with cancer, has brought about this public awareness proclamation.
“Cancer has touched all of our lives. It has crept insidiously into each of our families and altered our life stories. But nothing in the world is so wrong as the suffering of a child. Cancer is a disease that knows no boundaries, and still, no ultimate cure, and is most monstrous when it attacks our beautiful young.
“It was truly an honor to stand with Hailey and to recognize her immense strength, together, as a community.”