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  • MARK SCHLACHTENHAUFEN | THE EDMOND SUN Alice and Ben McCarley hold photos of their granddaughter, Amy, who died from brain cancer at the age of 12. MARK SCHLACHTENHAUFEN

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  • PHOTO PROVIDED Hannah Boyle kisses her daughter, Amy, on the cheek. Amy died from brain cancer at the age of 12. PHOTO PROVIDED

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  • PHOTO PROVIDED Amy Boyle and her father Mike Boyle pause for a photographer. Amy, the granddaughter of Edmond residents Ben and Alice McCarley, died at the age of 12 following a battle with brain cancer. PHOTO PROVIDED

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Discussion

May 6, 2010

Grandparents’ hearts are in Romania

Mark Schlachtenhaufen The Edmond Sun

EDMOND — While Ben and Alice McCarley are here in Edmond, their thoughts have been in Romania.

On May 7, in Arad, Romania, a home for disabled teens — Amy’s House — was dedicated in honor of the McCarleys’ granddaughter, Amy Boyle.

Amy, the daughter of Mike and Hannah Boyle, battled a brain tumor for a year and a half, and died at age 12 in June 2008 at home in Reston, Va. She fought against the disease, family members said.

“She was feisty,” her grandmother said, adding Amy was also at peace. “She never seemed angry. She was at peace through the whole thing.”

The McCarleys, who attend the First Presbyterian Church of Edmond, said among those who cared for their granddaughter were her pastor. Amy received many visits from her pastor, and at her church she would sit at the end of the pew so she could receive a blessing from him as he passed by.

Another family friend who cared for Amy was Mary Ann Bell, executive director of Romanian Christian Enterprises-USA.

Hannah Boyle, who has several relatives living in Edmond, has served on a board associated with Romanian Christian Enterprises, which is dedicated to placing orphans in families, to preventing suffering and additional abandonment for at-risk families and to providing education and physical therapy for children with special needs.

Several family members were in Romania for the dedication of Amy’s House, which will provide a family environment for teenagers with house parents who will help prepare them for independent or semi-independent life in their local community.

Mike Boyle said the purpose of Amy’s House is one she would have really liked.

“Our desire is that Amy’s House will be a home, that it will be a place where the children will feel safe and secure so that they will be able to face their obstacles with joy and laughter, like Amy did,” he said.

The McCarleys said Amy’s courageous and uncomplaining battle against the brain tumor inspired a broad community of friends from church, school and sports teams.

Friends formed a team called Amy’s Amigos, which raised $8,000 for the American Cancer Society. And Sunrise Valley Elementary School honored Amy in their annual 5K walk to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

On a cold, rainy May morning more than 400 people walked and ran, many of them friends, teammates, or coaches of Amy’s, and raised $17,000.

Ben McCarley said Amy’s Make-A-Wish visit to Pittsburgh included an appearance on the Jerome Bettis Show.

Amy also enjoyed helping others, Alice McCarley said. Amy returned home with great memories after having attended a camp one summer with other children suffering from cancer and enjoyed the friendship of several Romanian children, including some disabled orphans she got to know. She also befriended a boy with cancer.

“She genuinely cared about him,” her grandmother said. “She was always a kid that loved the underdog child.”

The family encouraged anyone interested in making a donation in Amy’s name to consider the Oklahoma Brain Tumor Foundation (www.okbtf.org), the Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation (www.childhoodbraintumor.org), the Make-A-Wish Foundation (www.wish.org) and Romanian Christian Enterprises (www.rcenterprises.org).



marks@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 108

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