Image Courtesy Republic NashvilleThe Band Perry has signed on as national ambassadors for Teen Cancer America, an organization spearheaded by rockers Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshed of The Who. The country group joined Roger Daltrey for a press conference to announce the partnership Monday in Nashville just before The Who’s concert at the city’s Bridgestone Arena.
The organization seeks to help eliminate the isolation teenage cancer patients feel when they are in the hospital receiving treatment. While children and adults battling cancer often have support programs and activities while in the hospital, teen patients can sometimes fall through the cracks.
The Perry siblings are very familiar with the medical field, thanks to their dad, who is a pediatrician. The Band Perry’s Kimberly Perry tells ABC Radio, “We would go with him on rounds all the time. We have noticed that so many of the medical systems cater to either young children or adults. It’s almost like these teenagers and young adults, they’re in the no man’s land.” (THE BAND PERRY AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)
Teen Cancer America seeks to bring those teenagers together to help support each other through specialized facilities and programs at medical centers.
Roger Daltrey explains, “Like a child wants a nursery with a teddy bear, they want a room where they can do the things that teenagers do and young adults do. They want a room where they can watch sports, cook for themselves, have a bit of fun, talk to each other. The best therapist for this lot is to talk to each other. No one is better.”
Teen Cancer America has partnered with Nashville’s Monroe Carell, Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt to bring those programs and facilities to teenage cancer patients in Music City. Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend founded Teen Cancer America for the United States in 2012 after serving as patrons of the similar Teenage Cancer Trust in the United Kingdom for more than 20 years.
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