About Me

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Bakersfield, CA, United States
Hans was a busy, happy, sweet and fearless three year old when he was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma. He fought his disease like a "gladiator" for nearly 6 years. Hans was an animal lover to his core. He was 'guarded' at home by his three cats, Black, Orange and Cotton. He also had his Golden Retriever, Honey, to keep him company. Hans enjoyed swimming, biking, gardening, grilling (he had his very own grill!), horseback riding, playing video games, building Legos, and flipping between Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Animal Planet. Hans loved all members of his family and he was a loyal friend. He had to go through a lot of treatment in his life. But Hans powered through it. His attitude was let's get this done! His motivation was always to get back home, to his family, pets, favorite foods and pool.

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Swim, Bike, Run - Anything for Hans!



As a family, we choose a research fundraiser to support each year in Hans' honor.  This September, we will mark the third year without him here with us, and we will recognize Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month and  support  Children's Hospital Los Angeles Pediatric Cancer Research by participating in the Nautical Malibu Triathlon on 9/20/15.  We lost him on 9/21/12, after a six year battle against neuroblastoma.  

Hans' story was featured by the Nautical Malibu Triathlon event sponsors this week, please read below.

You can click on any one of these links to support Team Hans.

Lara's Weberling's Page (Lara is completing the whole thing: swim 1/2 mile open water swim at Mailbu, bike 18 mile ride along highway 1, and  run 4 mile loop along highway 1) 

Kevin Weberling (biking in a relay team along with our neighbor Don)

Elle Weberling (running in a relay team along with our neighbor Don)

Don Nelson - (swimming in a relay team along with Kevin and Elle)



Nautica Malibu Triathlon - Fundraising
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Anything for Hans

As parents, we’d do anything for our children. Nine
years ago, in 2006, we found out our precious and
mischievous three-year-old was fighting a deadly
childhood cancer, Stage IV High Risk

Neuroblastoma.

Kevin and I would have done anything to change 

places with him and take on that battle ourselves 
so he didn’t have to.

The choice was not ours to make, and we had to stand by and watch our beautiful 

son wage a battle against one of modern medicine’s remaining enigmas.

We did everything we knew to do for him, circled the wagons, hit the books, and 

gratefully channeled the love and support that poured out for him into the most 
hopeful treatments we could find.
Neuroblastoma is a tricky cancer to treat, because it has often advanced to Stage IV 
and metastasized before it is diagnosed. It can run a very different course in each 
child. Hans’  Neuroblastoma would become a zombie; attacking our boy in a slow, relentless pursuit. And Hans would fight it like a tiny gladiator for six long years.

In that time frame, Hans received treatments across the country from four different children’s hospitals, he enrolled in multiple clinical trials, he never spent a day off 

treatment since his diagnosis, and due to the harshness of his treatments and their
 side effects, he never spent a month straight in a classroom.
It was moving and powerful to see Hans get through what he had to - to put everything 
he had into fighting for his life. It was beautiful to see the childlike way he appreciated 
the life that he fought so hard to live.

He just wanted to get his treatments done so he could be at home, with his loving 

family and his attentive pets, with his toys and projects and comforts and favorite 
games and movies and shows. He just wanted to swim and play and ride his bike. 
He just wanted to be surrounded by his favorite foods and graze all day long. He 
just wanted to love his family and his friends and animals and get just absolutely the
 most of it that he could. It was amazing and inspiring to witness what he had to go 
through to live that little boy’s life. The gift of Hans’ love was pure and unconditional. 
It was a gift that will last a lifetime and beyond. It will last forever.
Since he was diagnosed we’d have done anything. If a cure were to be found at the 
bottom of the ocean or the top of Mount Everest, we would have figured out how to 
get there. Since we lost Hans we’d do anything to honor his life. We’ve joined forces 
with other parents in a number of ways to bring awareness, community and education around this disease.
We’ve served on advisory councils, boards and committees to help give a voice for the child’s experience in hospitals and clinical trials. Together with Hans’ friends and family, and other children battling Neuroblastoma, we’ve helped raise hundreds of thousands 
of dollars in donations for Neuroblastoma research through multiple fundraising efforts 
over the past nine years.
When Sophia’s mom, Sandra, asked us if we would like to join Sophia’s Buddies and 
put in a Team Hans for the CHLA Malibu Nautica Triathlon, the answer was always 
Yes. Anything for Hans. This year, the triathlon will take place just one day before the 
third anniversary of us losing our beloved boy on September 21, 2012. Kevin and I, 
our sixteen year old daughter Elle, and our neighbor Don (whose son Keir beat 
Leukemia at CHLA about 15 years ago) will swim, bike and run in Hans’ honor on 
Sept. 20th. I’m going to the do the whole event (at my pace) and Don, Kevin and Elle
 are going to do the Swim, Bike, Run relay. We wouldn’t be anywhere else. Funds 
raised will go to CHLA pediatric cancer research so that in the future, other children 
might not have to fight quite so hard.

Thank you so much for SWIMMING, BIKING and RUNNING
 for pediatric cancer research!!