As a child, she beat bone cancer. Now she's headed into space.
Send a link to a friend
[February 26, 2021]
By Arlene Eiras
(Reuters) - Bone cancer survivor Hayley
Arceneaux is thrilled to be going into space.
As a crew member on SpaceX's Inspiration4, the world's first
all-commercial astronaut mission to Earth's orbit, Arceneaux hopes that
as the first person to go into space with a prosthesis, she can inspire
others.
"This mission is opening up space travel to anyone and I think that in
itself is going to motivate people and give them so much hope," said the
vivacious 29-year-old.
At 10, she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, and
was treated at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis,
Tennessee.
Arceneaux relates how she spent a difficult yet meaningful year in
hospital undergoing chemotherapy, and then surgery that replaced part of
her femur with a prosthesis.
She credits the hospital with saving her life, and now works there as a
physician's assistant.
SpaceX, owned by Tesla founder Elon Musk, is targeting the four-person
mission for the fourth quarter of 2021 and it is expected to launch from
Cape Canaveral, Florida. The flight will be captained by Jared Isaacman,
CEO of payments technology firm Shift4Payments, who chose Arceneaux.
Unlike the NASA and SpaceX flights that go to the International Space
Station, this one will travel around earth for several days, during
which time Arceneaux said she expects to participate in science
experiments.
[to top of second column]
|
Hayley Arceneaux, a 29-year-old physician assistant at St. Jude
Children?s Research Hospital and pediatric bone cancer survivor, who
has been chosen for historic Inspiration4 all-civilan mission to
Space, poses near a SpaceX rocket in an undated photograph. St. Jude
Children's Research Hospital/Handout via REUTERS
Her prosthesis would normally preclude someone from passing the
astronaut's rigorous medical exam, but no such requirement exists
for the private flight. Arceneaux said she is not scared and has
been medically cleared for the trip.
Encouraging the children at the St. Jude hospital was first on her
mind when Arceneaux was asked what she might aim to achieve in
space.
"We are going to try to set up a video call with the St. Jude kids,"
she said. "I hope that being able to see me in space really shows
them what their future can look like.
"I'm the first St. Jude patient to go to space, the first paediatric
cancer survivor, but I know I'm not going to be the last," she added
excitedly.
(Reporting by Arlene Eiras; Writing by Karishma Singh; Editing by
Giles Elgood)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |