07/26/2005 7:52 AM - Just 2 months ago, on Thursday, May 26th, four year-old Hannah Uhrmacher of Parkville, was perched perfectly on the balance beam in her gymnastics class. Four days later, she couldn’t walk a straight line. The following day, she couldn’t walk at all. Her parents were told that Hannah had an extremely rare form of cancer called Germ Cell. The cancer had produced tumors on Hannah’s spine and brain.

After surgery and two rounds of chemotherapy, this Saturday, July 30th, at 6:45 PM Hannah will walk onto the field at the CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kansas along with other brain tumor survivors. They will take part in a Kansas City T-Bones pre-game ceremony designed to heighten awareness of brain tumors and raise money for research. Hannah, along with Bethany Carnes of Overland Park, a 17 year-old brain tumor survivor and the National Pediatric Brain Tumor Spokesperson, will tie a huge Tug McGraw, “Ya Gotta Believe” bracelet on T-Bones mascot, Sizzle.

Baseball great McGraw coined the phrase “Ya Gotta Believe” during the Mets 1973 season. He carried that belief with him during his 10-month fight against a malignant brain tumor. He lost that fight on January 5, 2004.

During the 7:00 PM game against the Joliet JackHammers, volunteers of the Tug McGraw Foundation and local non-profit, beHeadStrong, will sell the bracelets, which mimic the stitching on a baseball, for $5.00. All proceeds will go to brain tumor research at Duke University and support services for Kansas City area brain tumor survivors

“We want to do all we can to help Hannah and other kids fight brain tumors,” said Lisa Uhrmacher, Hannah’s mother. “Research is a vital part of that fight. That is why we have agreed to have Hannah take part in some clinical trials of new treatments. Hopefully the funds raised by the sale of the bracelets at the T-Bones game will help fund more research.“

Other brain tumor survivors involved in the pre-game ceremony include: Rob Mullin, beHeadStrong Board Member, Overland Park; Becky Hazel, Lee’s Summit; Kristine Campbell, beHeadStrong Board Member, Leawood; Mark Newsome, beHeadStrong President and Founder, Overland Park; Cathy Cheek, Overland Park; David Rule, Olathe; and Pete Gaumer, Kansas City, KS.

Over 200,000 adults and children annually live with a diagnosis of a brain tumor.
beHeadStrong and the Tug McGraw Foundation are 501(c)(3) organizations.