Brody Bailey (third from right) and his family with the township proclamation he received at the Sept. 8 council meeting.
Deptford council presented a proclamation to 2-year-old Brody Bailey and his family during its Sept. 8 council meeting, in conjuncion with September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Brody has spent much of his brief life in and out of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where he was born. According to his mother, Lauren, Bailey was diagnosed with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), meaning he has only 25% capacity in his left lung.
A year later, Bailey was found to have a neuroblastoma, a solid cancer tumor that measured at 8-by-8 centimeters long. After a grueling battle, he is now cancer free.
“You couldn’t think that that big of a tumor could have gone that long without being detected,” Lauren noted. “CHOP has been amazing. There’s an upcoming CHOP run called ‘I Love CHOP’ that Brody is going to be an ambassador for. We’re going to be raising money in lieu of Brody’s team, dubbed the “Brody Street Bullies.”
The Bailey family and the Deptford community have rallied behind the team. In June, several organizations at both the local and county level – including the township police and fire departments – gathered in front of the family’s home to celebrate Bailey beating cancer.
Among those in attendance for both the celebration and the meeting was Richard Nardiello, who runs PopPop’s Kustom Kars, a nonprofit for which he refurbishes and customizes Little Tikes Cozy Coupes to give to kids battling pediatric cancer. The cars are free to them.
Nardiello spoke at the council meeting.
“One in 257 kids right now are diagnosed with childhood cancer,” he explained. “When I started doing what I do for children, it was one in 313, and that was in 2019. Kids are going lower and lower and lower; 45 kids per day are diagnosed with cancer.
“One of those great kids is Brody Bailey.”
The municipal building’s courtroom, where the meeting took place, had golden bows adorned inside with gold, the color of childhood cancer awareness. Family and close friends accompanied the Baileys to the session, some sporting Brody Street Bullies shirts in support.
“You don’t realize how many are affected by childhood cancer,” Lauren said. “We just thank you all for having us and Go Gold Month in Deptford.”
