Village fundraiser helps in fight to save 7-month-old boy's life

By Kellsie King
Posted 9/19/18

By KELLSIE KING This past weekend, a Cranston shop owner and other businesses from Pawtuxet Village hosted a fundraiser for the family of Sean Seigel, a 7-month old infant from West Kingston who has acute myeloid leukemia. The event on Saturday raised

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Village fundraiser helps in fight to save 7-month-old boy's life

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This past weekend, a Cranston shop owner and other businesses from Pawtuxet Village hosted a fundraiser for the family of Sean Seigel, a 7-month old infant from West Kingston who has acute myeloid leukemia. The event on Saturday raised around $2,300 for the family. 

The event, hosted and organized by Tag Sale Treasures owner Amy Conn, included a penny social, bake sale, lemonade stand, face painting, tarot card readings, and a DJ.

According to Conn, the penny social table did “really, really well”, along with the bake sale and face painting. She said that the tarot card tables had a few people each and were able to raise some money as well.

Bracelets were also sold for a $10 or more donation. 25 bracelets were made and 10 are currently left as of Monday. Conn said they will continue to be sold at her shop in the village and if they need to make more they will.

The penny social table had prizes such as tickets to the Roger Williams Park Zoo, an overnight stay at Mohegan Sun, salon gift cards, jewelry, and a scratch ticket tree.

“It went fantastic,” said Conn. “It was good to see community come together and help out.”

Hannah Chamberlain, baby Sean’s mother, said that they weren’t able to attend the event due to Sean not feeling well. She said on the phone she was “really happy” and “beyond blessed.”

“I felt an overwhelming sense of love and compassion from the community,” Chamberlain said. “It really made our day a little better and helped our struggle.”

She added that the funds raised amount to around 30 percent of the money needed for the bone marrow transplant Sean will have to undergo. 

Sean has an extremely rare form of leukemia, an FLT3 mutation that, according to his mother, is extremely aggressive. He and his family have to go to Boston to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in order for Sean to have a bone marrow transplant, which is what Chamberlain called “his only hope to save his life”. 

In the months following the transplant, Sean will be at inpatient care in Boston and in a year of home isolation, where his parents are the only ones allowed in the house. Chamberlain left her job as a manager at CVS Health to be Sean’s main caregiver and his father has to cut down his hours to avoid much contact with others outside of the house. If Sean’s parents are exposed to germs and illnesses it could leave a negative effect on him. 

Conn said that she is still going to keep the donation jar on the counter in her shop, to keep collecting money for the cause. She said she was doing that prior to the event and it worked. She also mentioned that checks and cash are still coming in from those who wanted to donate. 

Chamberlain has a GoFundMe page to raise money for bills and other expenses while Sean is receiving treatment. Visit www.gofundme.com/thebabyseanfund to donate.

There will be another event Sept. 29 at the Coventry Memorial VFW Auxiliary located at 29 South Main Street in Coventry. The event will be a comedy night benefiting baby Sean and his family. Tickets are $25. For more information visit www.funny4funds.com/events/baby-sean-comedy-fundraiser/196.

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