By Kevin Sanford
NEVERSINK — August 3, 2001 – The Neversink Fire Department is hosting a benefit dinner on Sunday, August 5 for Bronte Hough, a six-year-old Tri-Valley student recovering from pediatric kidney cancer.
The all-you-can-eat dinner will begin at 4 p.m. at the Neversink Firehouse on Route 55 and will be prepared by the head chef of Nina’s Ristorante, Martin Ruef. The cost is $8 for adults, $5 for children aged 6-12, and free for children under 5. Entertainment will be provided by Jason Perno of Liberty.
Bronte was diagnosed in March of this year and was immediately taken to A.I. DuPont hospital in Delaware for surgery, where doctors removed a football-sized tumor along with her left kidney. After seven days of radiation treatment, she was released with a central line attached to her chest and instructions to undergo weekly chemotherapy.
Now, Bronte must endure the chemotherapy treatments once every three weeks, a routine that should continue through October barring any delays (sometimes a low blood count demands that the treatments be postponed). And since a second surgery that replaced Bronte’s central line with a portacath, she’s been able to take full advantage of her summer.
“She’s a tough little cookie,” said Bronte’s mother, Rhonda, “Every night she goes to bed with a smile, and every morning she wakes up with one. Right now is a time for us to regroup and try to calm things down.”
(If you asked Bronte, she would likely tell you that it is a time to play with her new puppy – courtesy of Agway.)
The Neversink Fire Department will also be accepting donations on the Houghs’ behalf to ease the financial burden of medical treatments. For more information, contact Allison Mehr at 985-2425; 295-2446; or (914) 866-9333.