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Photos courtesy of Melissa Simmons.
Walker Simmons at a Racing for Children’s event. In 2019, he was named one of the two honorary crew chiefs. This year marks the first time Walker is old enough to ride on the tracks of Barber Motorsports Park.
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Photos courtesy of Melissa Simmons.
Walker Simmons at a Racing for Children’s event. In 2019, he was named one of the two honorary crew chiefs. This year marks the first time Walker is old enough to ride on the tracks of Barber Motorsports Park.
Walker Simmons, a second-grader at Vestavia Hills Elementary West, said each year, his favorite part of the Racing for Children’s event is getting to watch the races — and eating the snacks, he added.
This year, instead of watching, 2019 will mark the first time he is old enough not only to ride on the tracks of Barber Motorsports Park, but also be named one of the two honorary crew chiefs. Walker was diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia on Dec. 8, 2013, and completed his chemotherapy treatment in April 2016.
Walker’s mom, Melissa Simmons, said their family has been attending the event for the past four years.
“We love it, getting to go to the track and getting to watch the race for such a good cause,” she said.
Racing for Children’s raises funds and awareness for the Alabama Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s of Alabama. This year’s event includes a ticketed dinner and auction Friday, April 5, at Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, followed by a weekend of racing in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge. Melissa Simmons said each year, the event allows people to hear the personal stories like Walker’s about their fights with cancer.
“Children’s has been so amazing. We had a physician who was in the clinic treating our son some days in the week and other days in the week in the lab looking for cures and treatments for kids. That’s why we feel so passionately about raising money for research to treat kids with cancer,” she said.
Melissa Simmons said Walker was suddenly diagnosed with leukemia when he was 2 years old. Less than a week later, they started two and a half years of chemotherapy at Children’s of Alabama.
“I think something like that is every parent’s worst fear, finding out that their child has something that could take their child’s life, and that you as a parent can’t do anything about,” she said.
Melissa Simmons said they went through weekly treatments, which included the more intense in-patient chemo, as well at chemo at home with pills and injections. Over the years, she said the family came to know how resilient and strong Walker was, even being so young.
The nature of chemotherapy, she said, is that not only does it kill all of the cancerous cells, it also kills all of the good cells that help with the immune system, which required the family to be isolated for several years until he was done with treatment and able to start kindergarten. Even then, though, they had to be extremely careful with infections because of his compromised immune system.
“Truly, other than the spectacularly bad news of finding out he had leukemia, we only had good news from that point forward. We know so many people that had bad turns in the road and had setbacks along the way, but in his treatment process, he never had that, which was really, really great and a great blessing for us,” she said.
Because of the danger of having other people in the house, Melissa Simmons said so many people in Vestavia Hills were bringing meals that they had to put a cooler outside. The Simmons family, originally from Georgia, was shocked and thankful for how the Vestavia community rallied around them.
“There were blue bows on mailboxes when we came back from the hospital letting us know that we were being prayed for, community garage sales, T-shirts that said ‘Praying for Walker,’ and meals for as long as I remember, we always had meals brought to us,” Melissa Simmons said. “People were unbelievable the way they rallied around. … Not only did they get involved then, but they’re still involved. We love the way they rally around any type of pediatric fundraiser.”
To donate or purchase tickets for Racing for Children’s, go to racingforchildrens.org.
