The child of two former Carroll-area residents was chosen to be the Hawkeyes’ Kid Captain for the Iowa and Iowa State football game this weekend. Six-year-old Harper Stribe is the daughter of Polk City residents, Nicole and Nolan Stribe, Kuemper and Carroll graduates respectively. Nicole says her daughter being selected to take the field before the game is the end of a long journey that started in June of last year.
The lump continued to grow, and Harper started to experience pain in her cheek. After multiple tests and visits to the doctor, an MRI finally revealed the swelling was caused by a nearly five-centimeter tumor. The family got the news on June 29, 2017 that Harper had been diagnosed with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. Stribe says the condition is caused when cells that were meant to develop into muscles do not.
Doctors told the family that the tumor’s location ruled out surgery, but treatment options were still available. Harper quickly started a 43-week chemotherapy protocol at the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City, followed by a 28-day radiation treatment. Stribe says they were returning home from Iowa City near the end of Harper’s treatment when they learned she would be the Kid Captain for the Iowa/Iowa State football game.
Harper has shown no signs of active cancer since May 14. Stribe says her daughter received visits from the University of Iowa’s volleyball and basketball teams while in treatment, and they truly feel like a part of the Hawkeye family. Harper will take the field with her favorite team, the Hawkeyes, Saturday before the game. Stribe says seeing her on the field healthy now after being sick for so long is a feeling impossible for a parent to describe.
