Radiation therapist finds new outlet to fight cancer with children’s book fundraiser
Cierra Aber is a helper.
When she was a teenager, she knew enough about her personality and career goals that she decided to pursue an education to become a pharmacist.
But then life took a turn. Cancer entered Aber’s family.
Her grandmother’s kidney cancer diagnosis and brave battle changed Aber’s outlook and motivations and took her on a new path of helping people in a variety of ways.
“I think it was Christmas break during my freshman year of college when I started taking her to her treatments,” Aber told Healio. “And the way that she was talking to me about it, it was almost like she was excited to go to cancer treatment, which I didn’t understand at the time.
“But she said it’s not the treatment itself, it’s the people who took care of her and the relationships she had formed,” she added. “And I was like, you know what, I want to do that.”
Today, Aber honors her late grandmother, Betty Aber, through her work as a radiation therapist in the department of radiation oncology at WellSpan Health in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. She also uses one of her hobbies to help people.
Formerly turning to writing as an outlet for anxiety when life became stressful, Aber embarked on a second career this summer as a children’s book author. In June, she published Daddy’s Glasses, which teaches toddlers kindness and safety.
The book went on to do a bit more. It also helped a young boy with leukemia.
Aber decided to donate all the royalties she receives from Daddy’s Glasses to Keep Shaun Smiling, a fundraiser on GoFundMe for Shaun Richardson, who was diagnosed with leukemia 3 months shy of his second birthday earlier this year.
“My co-worker Melissa Helfrick knew one of Shaun’s family members and had said that she wished there was a way [to help],” Aber said. “We work in the cancer department, so it kind of hit home for us. We wished there was a way our department could raise money for him.
“We were brainstorming during work one day and I said, ‘Well, I just wrote this book,’ and it was having pretty good success locally, so I said, ‘What if we could use that? I could take what I make off of it and donate it that way.’ So it was a collaboration of the two of us coming up with the idea.”
Aber said she makes roughly “$2 and change” per book. She donated $100 from total sales of Daddy’s Glasses to Keep Shaun Smiling during the first month of contributing and has another $30 ready to give when her royalty checks arrive.
“I told the family as more money comes in, I’ll just continue to donate,” Aber said. “I’m hoping word continues to spread.”
Shaun celebrated his second birthday in late September and has been doing well, according to his mother. The family was stunned that someone they had never met wanted to help Shaun’s battle.
“I got a call from my mom one day out of nowhere and she explained what Cierra does and who she was and what she was going to do for us,” Sierra Richardson, Shaun’s mother, told Healio. “I broke down crying to my husband because a complete stranger wants to go out of their way to help us. We were honestly so shocked that someone was willing to do this for us. You don't realize how humble you are as a person until you walk through the children's cancer hospital. It means everything to us that Cierra is doing this for us and raising awareness. Not just for the money but to spread awareness, as well.”
Since Daddy’s Glasses in June, Aber has published a second book, Hope for Jack, a tale about adopting dogs, selflessness and giving and receiving love. She also launched a blog, The Weekend Circuit, with weekly posts about cancer prevention, health care accountability and wellness.
Like Daddy’s Glasses, Hope for Jack is raising money for a cause: Aber’s proceeds of $2 per book will go to Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter and other shelters during September and October. And her blog is her way of continuing to stretch her writing muscles while continuing to help people who may face cancer at some point in their lives.
“Recently I started realizing that maybe I wasn’t doing the most work I could be doing as far as helping people who have cancer. Yes, I’m treating them, but that’s after their diagnosis. What if I could help them out before their diagnosis?” she said. “It was kind of a hobby of mine, to research and take notes. What is this information and who is it helping besides me if I don’t share it?”
Aber’s decision to pursue a career as a radiation therapist helped her not only realize a goal of finding a full-time job that could help people, but also to pay tribute to her grandmother. In writing, she’s found another outlet as a helper.
“You don’t realize yourself sometimes — it’s other people, when you get their perspective, and seeing how grateful [Shaun’s] family was,” Aber said. “I was trying to be optimistic and had high expectations for myself. So, when it was $100 after a month, I felt like it wasn’t enough. But they were so grateful and thankful, it just makes you realize every little bit helps.”
With her side job as a children’s author raising money for causes, Aber doesn’t intend to slow down. She has other ideas percolating and has jumped with two feet into a new passion.
“It just makes me more and more excited about the potential to help people by doing what you love,” she said. “You grow up thinking certain things are what make you successful or what makes you worthy — it’s whatever society makes you feel. So to realize it is a success and that it can work, that you’re living proof of it, it just makes you feel — just happy.”
For more information:
To learn more about Shaun’s battle with leukemia, visit his Go Fund Me page.
Both Daddy’s Glasses and Hope for Jack can be purchased through Amazon. Follow Cierra Aber’s Instagram page @booksbicierra and read her blog at https://theweekendcircuit.com/.
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