LI cancer survivor, 8, on mission to help others

An 8-year-old girl who underwent a miraculous cancer surgery last year that doctors said couldn't be done is now on a mission to help others.

Heather McNamara of Islip Terrace owes her life to blood donations - and to a rare, risky operation that took 23 hours to complete and that had never before been performed on a child before.

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Monday, Heather spent her day off from school in an effort to give back, at a blood drive in her honor at the Islip Terrace Fire Department. The blood collected helped make up for the lower-than-normal donations during last Wednesday's storm.

After all she's been through, she knows the importance of blood: Heather received eight to 10 pints of it during the course of her treatment.

"I feel good because people get to donate blood and kids like me get to live longer," she said of the drive.

This time last year, Heather was lying in intensive care. She had just undergone the operation at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian in Manhattan, where doctors removed six of her internal organs, then reimplanted three, in order to take out a cancerous tumor.

At the time, no one had ever performed this surgery on a child. And previous doctors had turned Heather away, saying the tumor was inoperable.

Heather's mother, Tina McNamara, said she was grateful for the event.

"If it wasn't for the blood my daughter got, she wouldn't be here today," said McNamara.

Life after operation

Heather receives scans every three months, but has been cancer-free for over a year, McNamara said. Because Heather no longer has a stomach, spleen or pancreas, she has developed diabetes and relies on a feeding tube at night - an experience she declares as just "all right."

Doctors believe Heather has a good prognosis as long as the tumor doesn't return. Tina McNamara said there's no way of knowing the chances of a reoccurrence.

But the lively girl wearing sparkly sneakers showed no signs of illness Monday as she roamed through the fire department, where her father, Joe McNamara, is a volunteer. Heather takes her health restrictions in stride, carefully reading labels on food before eating. She tested her blood sugar Monday, nonchalantly sticking her own finger with a lancet and squeezing out a bead of blood.

"She's been through a lot," Tina McNamara said. "I'm jumping for joy that she doesn't have a tumor."

Tina McNamara said her daughter has counseled an 8-year-old New Jersey girl who had the same operation in December, cheering the girl up during a Christmastime visit. The two have become fast friends, she said.

Well-timed blood drive

Blood donations on Long Island were hit hard by Wednesday's winter storm, making Monday's blood drive all the more important, said Leslie Gonzalez, spokeswoman for the New York Blood Center.

About 130 donors were expected Monday, she said, which would help replenish the center's supply. The center missed out on about 1,500 pints of blood last week, she said.

"It's coming at a lovely time," Gonzalez said.

The first blood drive in honor of Heather took place last Presidents Day, as she lay in intensive care after the surgery.

Heather is now in third grade at Connetquot Elementary School.

"She's just like everybody else," said Heather's teacher Nicole Hoffmann, whose husband donated blood. "You'd never know that there's anything different."

It was the first time donating blood for Melinda Safrany, 38, of East Moriches. Safrany, a fourth-grade teacher at Connetquot Elementary School, taught Heather's 11-year-old sister Stephanie last year and helped to support the family through Heather's illness.

"I think it's great to be a part of the miracle that is Heather," Safrany said. "It's just amazing. She just pulled through."

VIDEO: Young cancer survivor strives to help others

PHOTOS: LI girl survives rare organ surgery