Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

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October 4, 2022
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Field Day for a Cure raises money for pediatric cancer patients

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Angela Wang

Teams of students in brightly colored shirts filled the LBJ Library Lawn to raise money for pediatric cancer patients on Saturday.

Dr. Qadri’s Cancer Heroes is part of the Dell Medical School and is a student organization raising money for pediatric cancer patients. The organization hosted Field Day for a Cure to raise money through games such as tug of war. Haneen Khan, special events coordinator and neuroscience sophomore, said the organization is unique because all of the money raised goes directly to the patients.

“Events like this are really, really important because not only do they raise awareness but (they) also shift the interest from research to helping patients afford treatment,” Khan said.


This is the first time the organization has put on an event like this. Director of the organization Sania Razzak said the event has a symbolic meaning as well. Each team member paid $15 to register for the event.

“A lot of people in the hospital who are facing cancer can’t do things like this because they are in treatment, so we’re basically doing it for them,” said Razzak, human development family science junior. “They see that ‘Oh, these people are being happy for us and are doing this for us’ and it brings a smile to their face.”

Khan said she’s optimistic about continuing the event in the future.

“We hope this event goes well this year and everyone has fun, that way we can increase the amount of people that come next year and this becomes a normal thing because it is really important to all of us,” Khan said.

The event was not just limited to UT students. High school student Grady Brown has dealt with cancer in his family in the past. He attended to be with friends.

“I know how hard it is for a family to go through (dealing with cancer), so I think less sadness in the world would happen if we found a cure,” Brown said.

Khan said it is important to her as a premedical student and because she gets to directly help patients.

“I love the fact that it’s shifting the aspect of just science and just research to more on the patients lives and their families,” Khan said. “I think that option is forgotten when you just focus on the medical aspects of it.”

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Field Day for a Cure raises money for pediatric cancer patients