After bravely battling cancer for nearly two years, 6-year-old Amelia Hindman passed away on March 11.
Hindman was diagnosed with brain cancer in June of 2024. DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma) was the specific diagnosis, a very rare and extremely aggressive cancer located in the brain stem, which makes it inoperable and untreatable. Her prognosis was that she would have 9-to-12 months to live – she proved a fighter and beat that projection.
The Luling girl’s community rallied strongly around her. Last year, Hindman was among beneficiaries of the Bloody Decks Fishing Rodeo annual fundraiser. A GoFundMe to help her family in their fight against the illness saw donors raise almost $30,000. Riverlands Country Club in LaPlace hosted a golf tournament to fundraise to help as well, among many others who stepped up in support.
She was the daughter of Brittany Stevens and Matthew Hindman. Amelia’s battle inspired her mother to become an advocate for pediatric cancer awareness and research.
The first signs of trouble came when Amelia’s balance seemed to be off.
“She was walking and kind of shoulder-checking doorways,” Stevens said. “I thought, whatever, she’s clumsy, I’m clumsy. But she was drooling … we were under the impression it was an inner ear issue.”
Stevens set up an appointment with Amelia’s pediatrician, and let staff at her school know what was going on.
“The school called me and said her balance is way off. Her motor skills are slipping, her speech is slipping,” Stevens said. “I picked her up from school and brought her to the ER.”
A CT scan revealed a mass in Amelia’s brain, which prompted her parents to take her to Children’s Hospital. That’s where the MRI revealed cancer.
“It’s the last thing any of us would have thought,” Stevens said. “I thought it was vertigo.”
Her family says Amelia let none of it stop her. She loved going to movies and warmed the hearts of everyone she saw. She also loved firefighters – her fifth birthday was firefighter-themed, and she was officially named an honorary firefighter by the Luling Fire Department and sworn in by Fire Chief Barry Minnich.
Since Amelia’s battle began, Stevens has been vocal about the need to step up pediatric cancer research. According to the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, the federal government’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) allocates 4 percent of its annual cancer research budget to pediatric cancer, which is about $250 million for all pediatric cancers combined – less than $3 per child.
“It’s unacceptable,” Stevens said. “Every person I’ve mentioned this to is absolutely blown away. We’re supposed to protect our children – they’re the future.”
Even before her daughter’s diagnosis, it’s a cause that was near and dear to Stevens’ heart. She works with Wigs by Tiffani, a company that makes wigs and often works with cancer patients.
