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Heersche family
Undated photo of Taylor Heersche
What was supposed to be a welcome-home parade instead turned into a somber candlelight vigil for a terminally ill 15-year-old Kansas girl who died hours before she was to return home.
Residents of the town of Mulvane had decorated Main Street with ribbons and signs in orange — the color of leukemia awareness — to welcome Taylor Heersche home Tuesday evening, The Wichita Eagle reported.
Taylor had been terminally ill with cancer and had told her family she wanted to be at home to die. Doctors at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City told the family she had only a few more days to live, so the plan was to release her to be with her family and friends.
But Taylor passed away Tuesday morning at the hospital, with her parents, DeAnne and Dan Heersche, at her side.
Instead of the parade, Mulvane residents gathered for a candlelight vigil late Tuesday to honor the Mulvane High School sophomore, the Eagle reported.
“I’ll bet every parent says that their kid was special. But she was a real people person. There were no strangers,” DeAnne Heersche said of her daughter, according to the Eagle.
“That kind of kid leaves a huge hole not only in our family, but in the community. We’re all going to miss her horribly.”
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"It's still a homecoming in our eyes, it's just a different home that she's going to, a better home that she's going to, so it's more of a celebration than the grief," Maggie Keys, one of Taylor's classmates, was quoted as saying by KWCH-TV.
Taylor, a sophomore at Mulvane High School, was diagnosed with the leukemia in May 2008 when she was 10.
Taylor's leukemia had been in remission for several years following chemotherapy. But last winter the cancer returned aggressively.
Services are Sunday at Central Community Church in Wichita, with a private burial Monday.
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what a lovely,heartwarming, story. Thank you!
Just think of the courage it takes for someone to face death like she did...and she was so young. Sorry, I don't feel this is heartwarming at all...makes me sick to my stomach!
My wife is undergoing chemo right now for breast cancer/non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Been through 4 bouts of different cancers. The courage most of these people demonstrate is incredible.
Cancer is so very cruel!
To "Cantakenomore": my thoughts are with you and your wife. I've been blessed with good health for all my 71 years, so I know that I can't even begin to realize what it must be like to bear the burden you and your family has right now. Just know that many have you in their hearts and prayers.
I am so sorry for what your wife and you are going through....... Thoughts and prayers to you......
My sincerest condolences go out to the loving family of this very brave and courageous young lady. God Bless them.
To catgoddess and beachgirl...
Thanks to both of you for your kind words/thoughts. Glad you can say that you've experienced good health, catgoddess. All I can ask of people is that you help in any way you can...march with the Susan G. Komen folks...donate anything you can...and pray a bunch!
Catgoddess, my wife and I are cat people also...have a gray long hair female and a Maine Coon male...boy, the Maine Coon has a unique personality...fetches peanuts, and is quite the "chatty Kathy". Funny too...they seem to know when my wife feels bad and will hang by her all day, foregoing their time outside. Who says animals aren't intelligent?
Take care ladies and have a great and healthy life!
My thoughts and prayers are with these parents and her friends. My mother said that the worst pain any parent can feel is to bury their child and it is doubly hard when they are so young. She obviously touched many people in her young life. RIP.
Hold your children and cherish every moment while you can!! We as a society bicker over politics and worry about nonsense issues all the while there are families going thru exactly the same type of situation as these folks and they are dealing with what truly deserves attention!!
So did she have the good Hodgkin's or the bad Hodgkin's?
So very sad. Cancers are becoming more and more common because of the chemicals large corporations put into our foods or use as containers or dump into the ground, like in NC where they have been pouring TCE into the ground for the last 10 years and the government knew about it and did nothing - not even tell people their water was contaminated. Then we go to big Pharma who profits from all these cancers and lobbies on Capital Hill to hold back research on materials that may cure different cancers at a fraction of the cost, because well, the substance that may cure cancer is also considered an illegal drug, even if it is just a plant. But the people we elect into our government are the greedy wealthy who make us think that it makes sense to put businessmen and lawyers in charge because they know what they are doing. The state of the budget shows that this is a lie. A mother with a family of 6 who only makes $25,000 a year could probably set things straight better than the wealthy we have in Congress right now. But, I'm ranting.
To the family of this girl, I pray for you and her and I hope you remember the good times you had while she was with you. May she always remain alive in your memories and hearts!
RIP little angel.
Very sad. She was way too young to go but she was very brave right until the end. She was surrounded by love. It scares me personally because she was in remission and then got it again worse years later. My good friend is fighting the same disease and the thought of losing him scares me so much. He is also very brave in the face of this disease. I don't think I could be as brave as these two. God bless this little girl and others liker her.
@Laura Cavallo, I see nothing "heartwarming" about the passing of this young girl. To the contrary, it fills my heart with cold rage that the morally corrupt "powers that be" would place their love of greedy mega-pharmaceutical corporation profits above the life of this child and the love her family and community still feels for her.
@TheKahnKubla, I stand with you. Those profit mongers, who basically killed this bright child, are the same people who are dosing over 90% of the tap water in the USA with industrial waste (I'm talking fuoride here) so they don't have to own the expense of responsible disposal. The rant is justified, but the desires of the greedy muffle our words to the point of being unintelligable.
My heart goes out to the Heersche family, whose future has been impacted in such a grossly negative way, and to the community that will have to endure this loss as well.
So sad...15 yrs old is way too young to depart this life. She had hardly begun to actually live it. As a believer in reincarnation, I hope her parents get busy and have another child, providing this girl with the opportunity to re-enter the world in her same family if she wishes it, and possibly with a thoroughly healthy body.
For now, my sympathy goes out to her family and friends in their grief at her loss. The death of a child is a horrible thing to have happen, whether through disease, accident or crime. May God comfort her family and give her soul peace.
RIP, young lady. I really, really hate cancer.
It still amazes me that a cure has not been found for cancer and other diseases. I really hope it isn't locked in a vault somewhere so that others can still benefit financially from its non-emergence.
Olivia, I have lost several close friends in the past few years, and my parents are very elderly...I was terrified by the specter of death - both my own and that of people I love - and decided to learn everything I could about it, for my own peace of mind. I've read numerous books written by physicians and hospice nurses, talked with many death-bed witnesses, and together with some very personal experiences of my own, I've discovered that death is NOT the monster I thought it was. I urge you to look into it yourself - Final Gifts by Maggie Callanan (a hospice nurse) would be a good start, or anything by Dr. Melvin Morse. Best of luck to you.
Merlin, I have to say this - you are a total idiot! You can not believe in God and believe in reincarnation, and try to convince this family to have another child right now is stupid. What you are saying is that the new child will be the older child only younger and starting over. Who in their right mind would want to listen to such crap, especially at this time. You should be ashamed of yourself.
I don't think the original poster meant that cancer is heartwarming, but that the love and support from the community for this brave young lady is what is heartwarming. And Okie, Merlin has the right to his opinion and I don't think he meant any harm or disrespect. Some religions do believe in God as well as reincarnation, who are you to tell him his beliefs are wrong?
Jessnic02 - yes he does but MY opinion is that this is not the time or place to tell someone that they need to have another child to take the place of the one they just lost! And who are you to tell me I am wrong to express my opinion. You are a hypocrite because you are doing the same thing you pompus A$$!
I didn't say you shouldn't speak your opinion, nor did I say it was wrong. I just felt that you may have been a little harsh with the name calling. Obviously you don't like it when people disagree with you and it seems to me that YOU are the pompOUS a**!
Okie, You aren't wrong to express your opinion but you are wrong to call others inappropriate names, leave name calling at the playground not on forums. I don't agree with what Merlin wrote either, but he's entitled to say what he wants, even if it is in my opinion a tad tactless.
My sincere sympathies to the parent of this extraordinary child, I can't image the pain of outliving your child. I'm sorry she couldn't make it home like she wanted but I hope her final moments where peaceful and quick. It is heartwarming that so many people gathered in her memory, would that we should all be so lucky and blessed to have touched others' lives.
so sad...RIP now
RIP little girl. My thoughts are with her family and friends at this sad time.
RIP sweet angel. Your family and friends are in my thoughts and prayers. May he grant them the strength during this difficult time.
@cantakenomore - My thoghts and prayer are with you. I pray that your wife succeeds in beating this awful disease. Wishing you health, happiness and joy!
absolutely awful to hear - the pain she went through, her parents pain, all of it - so, so sad
What a heart-wrenching story. My thoughts and prayers to the family. Losing a child is the most devastating event ever.
My brother died four days after being diagnosed with brain cancer. We didn't even get a chance to say goodbye as he went into a coma the day after he found out. His HMO (Kaiser) kept telling him he had migraines or a sinus infection when he went their ER. I guess they played the odds due to the cost of a CT scan.
this is a super sad story thoughts and prayers to the family,
also I hate Kasier my dad had lung cancer and they misdiagnosed it do to not testing correctly among a whole bunch of other things they neglect to do , I lost my farther 9 months ago. I am so sorry for the loss of your brother :(
Libra, I am sorry for your loss, but it was not Kiaser who made the mistake, it was the doctor. Kiaser does not make the diagnosis. that was done by a physician...
That's terrible news...the doctors should be held accountable. I have Kaiser and I know its on the doctors. Fortunately, I have good ones. I am sorry, he did not. May he rest in peace.
Libra2u
Now this story makes me so angry I could scream. I hear these stories all the time from people living in the US and I find it incomprehensible!!! I honestly dont know how the people of the US deal with this. Yes I am Canadian and yes our system is not without faults. But here you can get as many tests as you need for as many times you need it and it is free. Now brain cancer is a big cancer to deal with but at least one should be properly diagnosed with it and at least have that optiiom. You brother should be alive and with you. He deserved better that what he got from you so-called Health Program there.
And for this little girl taken way too soon. At least your pain and suffering is over and you are now in a special place. RIP and condolences to the family.
SHar- I agree with you however until greed comes AFTER caring about all people that will never be the case in the US.
Prayers to the family. I am so sorry for your loss.
God bless the family, she is now in the Lord's hands.
Rest in peace Sweetheart. No more pain
RIP Taylor.
Rest in peace Taylor. My condolences to the Heersche family on their loss.
Hundreds of loved ones die in similar circumstances every day across the country, is one any more important than the other? As sad as it is for the family, I don't see this as national news.
Ken Trout, you are right everywhere there is sadness every day but for you to go on here purposely & say this @ this time is unacceptable
well it is national news because of the circumstances reported by the local paper and picked up through the newsvine. and you read it and i read it and you have the right to have your opinion, as inappropriate as it is right now to voice it, you have the right.
my sincere condolences to family and friends. peace and comfort to you all.
My goodness, do you even have to condemn this?
Ken may you or your loved ones never have to suffer the pain this family has. I dont know how anyone could make such a heartless comment that you just did. If you feel it is not news worthy go on to the next story and dont comment. But then the story is so unnewsworthy that you read it anyway. Just a troll looking to get people mad. Your a sad man Ken. Hope again you or your family never have to go through the pain like this family . Rest in peace Taylor. And hang touch mom and dad, she is now in a much better place.
Hey Ken you have alot of nerve saying that. This family just lost a child you need to give them respect and not say such things.
Ken Trout.... You are pathetic. May the fleas of a thousnd camels invade your shorts.......
Prick!
Ken Trout, you are an a$$. Did your mother raise you to be this way or did you learn it on your own? If it was the latter, your mother would be ashamed of you. Were you like this when came the news of the passing of Lane Goodwin??? A cure to childhood cancer must be found. The passing of one child IS a big deal regardless of where they come from and the whole world deserves to hear about it if only to wake them up and realize the severity of the situation. I submit the possibility that you do not have a heart otherwise you would not have made such an insensitive statement as this.
To help the support the Thumbs Up for Lane Goodwin Childhood Cancer Foundation, you can go to #!donate/c1ghi. As I understand it, the site is still largely under construction but there is a donation link up and running. Cancer bites!!!
No, he is absolutely right. Why is this national news? Ok, she's dead. And? How does this affect the country at large. I'm sure I can find 100 stories just as tragic that didnt make the national news. They do this to pluck your heart strings and make you go "awwwwwww" and you idiots fall for it.
"What is in the public interest is not defined by what is interesting to the public"
Just keep dinking your fluoridated tap-water, Ken Trout, and put your faith in the just-a-system. Then, when you're suffering through some painful, debilitating desease, see how caring and dependable folks are in your behalf.
I find nothing wrong with what Ken said, he simply stated his thoughts about this. Those of you calling him names and wishing him harm are the ones with a problem.
I've lost two sisters to cancer. The most recent was last year on Christmas morning shortly before I got to the hospital. She died while I was making the 170 mile trip to have what I thought would be my last visit with her.
I'm not heartless when it comes to losing a loved one. I don't think Ken is either.
Pahoo
You are a wise person and can see through the words, I have recently lost a very close family member to cancer also. Loss is also not limited to cancer either, I have lost family and friends through war and drunk driving also. Certainly this story is heart wrenching, but there are literally thousands like this happening just like this everyday across this country. I didn't say it was not tragic nor a terrible loss for a family, I find it far too common to be national news (in my opinion).
So sad...so sorry for the family's loss...taken too soon..
Please accept my deepest sympathy now, and in the days to come.
My prayers are for you made the angels in heaven help you.I too lost a love one to cancer.
She is now with GOD, No more pain. My prayers and my tears to the family. Someday you too will be with her again forever. In Jesus name, Amen
Another child gone too soon without a chance to enjoy all that life has to offer. She is now in the arms of the angels.
R I P dear Taylor!!!!!
Ken Trout......
Wow....and for a minute I thought there would be nothing but positive comments......and then you showed up. Jerk.
So sorry to hear of this brave young girls hardship, gosh bless the parents of this beautiful girl and pray that one day you will be reunited with her in a beautiful place where pain and suffering no longer exists.
May G-D comfort her family and all who knew her as He does all mourners in Zion and Jerusalem.
You guys are either more evolved or much stronger than me if you think this story is heart"warming". It seemed heart"breaking" to me.
I said this in response to that comment earlier in the post, I don't think that they meant cancer is heartwarming, but that the love and support from this young lady's community is what is heartwarming.
There is no peace for a dead girl, she had hopes and dreams; now she is a corpse. You are trying to tell each-other that she will rest in peace? She would have cried to hear your words, not because she was dying but because you expect her to live well after she couldn't do what she wanted with her life. How do you expect someone who didn't get to live the way the wanted, to "rest in peace"?
There isn't any afterlife anyway, there isn't even blackness, there is only death and nothing more. There are no Gods that wil save you.
May this family recover from the loss of a friend, a sibling, a daughter and one of their kin.
thanks for the sermon Seth, glad you know everything about life or absence of life after death.... or is this your "opinion". we all should listen to you who knows "all". live a life in misery, where there is no hope, no one should have faith of something better for a life well served. my guess is the family and friends of this young lady do not feel the same as you. you have a right to your opinion, as well as i. my suggestion is for you to continue to live in your "blackness' and in the end maybe that is all you will have .... maybe not.
I'm not religious either Seth, its just a nice thing to say. Holy @!$%# get off your soapbox.
I know what she thought. She had a very strong faith in god and she knew she was going to heaven. She was not afraid of dying only worried about all of us that she was leaving behind. You can stop your preaching. She was a strong christian girl and yes, she lived a great life and made every day count.
It's people like seth that give atheists a bad name....
You can choose to live in the darkness, Seth. Darkness cannot overcome the light. I choose the light and, from what mw93 says, it seems so did this young girl. It sounds like she's faced this burden with courage and conviction. May she enjoy peace and tranquility in the hands of the Lord, and may her lesson not be lost on others who choose to live in the light.
@my opine
Couldn't agree more; such bad timing
@Tom
Seth is free to be an atheist as he chooses...and if he so chooses to use his atheistic position to come off as an insensitive douche that seems to pan off onto the more level-headed atheists (unfairly) then so be it.
This young lady was brave to the end. Yes, cancer is cruel. What makes it worse in this case was that she went into remission. I can only imagine the joy in the family and the hope and joy in Taylor. I feel so sad for her and her family. Indeed, may she rest in peace. She is enjoying her eternal reward and in a place far away from this pathetic world in which we are now living.
Seth.....It is so good to have a know it all on the board that can tell us what to expect....or not in this case, after death. Having all the knowledge of the universe concerning the afterlife must be very beneficial. You are a sad soul! You know there is a God yet your pride will not let you admit it. I KNOW this since the Bible clearly states that every one knows there is a God deep in their heart. Maybe you are a man of science. Science says that energy cannot be destroyed. Therefore it is eternal so what happens to that energy? If you think there are no higher life forms than humans in the universe I cannot see you as a man of science or theology. You are just lost. I will just end by printing the quote; " There are no atheists in fox holes". There is nothing more astute and truthful than that sentence. When an atheist's life is threatened and death is imminent, atheists are the first ones to beg God for their lives. Those who have a relationship with God do not have to beg or even ask. They may pray but not have to openly whine or beg God for a reprieve.
Oh, atheists aren't the first ones to beg. I have seen many people die, and the ones who were trying to convert everyone around them are the ones begging and crying.
But that isn't what this is about. I am sorry for her family's loss and any pain she went through, and I do hope that she finds peace. I'm not Christian, but that doesn't mean I don't wish her peace.
I ran out of edit time or the rest of my post disappeared. Seth, your post is way inappropriate. I don't believe in God either, but that doesn't mean I need to set people straight on the afterlife according to my personal beliefs, and you don't either. You have no more idea what happens after we die than the people who are praying to God, so why not mind your own beliefs and let anyone who wants to pray or send good thoughts do so? If the intention is good then cool, and you aren't the appointed preacher here any more than anyone else is, so how about we respect each others' points of view?
I am sorry for her family's loss and any pain that she suffered.
Seth........ Six months ago I was a staunch atheist and so was my husband. He died 5 months ago and since then I have done a lot of reading about Near Death Experiences. I used to believe these were hallucinations, but not anymore. You need to read the book "Evidence of the Afterlife" by Dr. Jeffrey Long.
There are numerous facts in the book that prove there is life after death. People who have out of body experiences have seen things that only "being out of their bodies" could prove. For example one woman hovered above the hospital while as a spirit, when she came back to her body she told the staff exactly where a pair of sneakers were on the roof of the hospital. Another woman read the red label on the blade of a ceiling fan (the side of the blade which faced the ceiling) and told the hospital staff to get a 20 ft. ladder to prove there was a label and what was on the label was exactly as she described, and both of these women were right. They could not know this information if they had not left their bodies. There are so many more points made in this book and others on NDEs that prove they are real, for instance when these people were dead a brain scan showed absolutely NO activity, yet these people experienced spiritual flight while they were brain dead. A lot of them shocked their doctors by telling them exactly what the doctor did during the surgery (things only a surgeon would know) and some of the things the surgeon was thinking and not speaking to revive them.. One doctor turned white as sheet and abruptly left the room when his patient told him what he was thinking during surgery. They would have no way of knowing these things without hovering over their bodies and being able to communicate telepathically. Again, I used to laugh at people who believed in God, if it couldn't be proven by science I didn't want any part of it. I've read over 300 accounts of NDEs since my husband's death and I am a true believer in God now. The research adds up, your soul does really live om.
Seth........ Six months ago I was a staunch atheist and so was my husband. He died 5 months ago and since then I have done a lot of reading about Near Death Experiences. I used to believe these were hallucinations, but not aymore. You need to read the book "Evidence of the Afterlife" by Dr. Jeffrey Long. He has done a lot of research, these NDEs are not hallucinations. People really do leave their bodies. In some accounts they can prove it for example: one woman's soul flew up by the ceiling fan in the hospital. She told the hospital staff and they looked at her in disbelief. She asked them to get on a very tall ladder and to look at one of the blades of the fan which faces the ceiling, it has a red label with such and such writing.........so they did and she was right. There's no way she could have known that without floating up to the ceiling. There are many accounts like this. There are children who meet dead siblings they never knew they had, then their mother tells them, "you had a sister who died and I was going to tell you when you were older". Just too many things like this prove to me that there is life after death and that the soul does live on. I used to be just like you and laugh at people who believed in God. I've read over 300 accounts of life after death and it has proven to me that it is real.
I just want to race home and hug my daughter... This is so sad.
How many time have we all heard this?"....In regression after chemotheropy but the cancer returned aggressively......"
How much more money are we going to pour into cancer "treatment" ? The ACS is not interested in a cure. There is no profit in a cure and that is why you always hear the talking point sound like: "We are constantly seeker better treatment"
Bull*hit!!
For the sake of the family of this little girls and the sake of all who have lost loved ones to this disease, here's hoping someone will come forward, stop looking for a way to profit and find a cure not just another treatment!!!
I couldn't agree with you more man! so true and so sad that this is what the world has come to caring about money more then others. I hope some else does come forward and say here it is the cure to cancer, hiv and other fatal diseases that are out there.
My heart goes out to the family and friends of this beautiful little soul that was taken to soon. *love*
I agree. Time and again I hear them state that their goal is controlling cancer, not eliminating it. There are mega-bucks to be made by controlling it and but a one time pay off with a cure. For them to not have produced a cure after these several decades of collecting donations is criminal in my eyes. In fact, I'm willing to bet at least one cure has been found and then promptly stepped on to prevent the loss of a multi-million/billion dollar industry. I say no more donations until one of them produces a cure- results beyond being able to control a disease. Why would they want to "control" a disease instead of killing it off anyway? It sounds questionable, to say the least, and fraudulent, to say more. Where are today's Jonas Salks?
Merlin, today's Jonas Salks are alive and well, developing new vaccines to combat many old and new adversaries, including MRSA, Alzheimer's, and pandemic flu, just to name a few. This effort is NOT to control, but to prevent, and hopefully eliminate diseases, all in the face of constant, unreasonable myth-based opposition and ongoing escalation of regulatory hurdles and development costs.
Cancer (and the many variations of cancer) is much more complicated issue than vaccinating for polio.
The key is that cancer deregulates the cell cycle and the controls that prevent mutations. This means that by the time the cancer is discovered, patients have many cancer variants in their bodies. Treatment can eliminate most of the cells; however, if a few survive the treatment, they can grow to cause a more difficult to treat cancer as they were resistent to the original treatment.
While I don't trust companies, I also think that researchers have been trying for a cure to cancer with all of their abilities. It is just horrible, diverse, difficult foe. Surival rates have significantly increased due to "cures." If the cancer comes back (it wasn't cured), it less likely to be cured in the future. In that case, the goal is management because it can't be cured with what we know today.
So very sad!! Thoughts and prayers go out to the family and community.