Local haunted house helps cancer patients
LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – For more than a decade, the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office and The Community Benefit Committee have been bringing horror to town to help.
Each year, they raise funds through their haunted house to support their annual turkey drive and to provide gifts to foster children in the area.
CBC president Lieutenant Rhonda Sanders decided to also raise funds for local cancer patients this year in honor of its awareness month.
Kendrick Marshon Bankhead, affectionately known as KJ, was first diagnosed with cancer shortly after his 2nd birthday.
After KJ’s mother noticed a limp in his walk, the family saw his pediatrician, who told them — after running some tests — that it looked like cancer.
“So, she immediately sent us to Jackson. He had a tumor on his right knee, a tumor on his right kidney, and a tumor on the right side of his pelvic bone,” said KJ’s mother Tonya Bankhead.
In August 2024, KJ was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a type of cancer.
KJ’s family is one of four the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office and the Community Benefit Committee are raising funds for this year at their haunted house.
Concession proceeds at the annual event will be split between the families.
“We want to invite the community to come out have dinner for a cause, a good cause, to help support these families,” said Sanders.
“We’re thankful, my husband is thankful. I’m thankful, my kids are thankful because it really has gotten hard,” said Tonya.
KJ’s mom said the chemotherapy treatment got rid of most of the tumors, but one was wrapped around the main vessel of his right kidney — causing him to lose the organ in November 2024.
In January, doctors declared that KJ was cancer free, and in March, he finished his radiation.
However, sadly, his journey wasn’t over.
“I drive up and down that highway, three or four times a week, sometimes two times a day,” said Tonya.
That same spring, KJ developed the kidney disease, thrombotic microangiopathy, TMA.
And in August, the three-year-old was airlifted to Jackson.
“Since August 11, he has coded twice and brought back. He was on a ventilator for like three and a half weeks. And after all that, we found out the cancer has returned and it’s more aggressive now,” said Tonya.
She and KJ’s father often switch locations to take care of their four other kids.
Tonya said she is grateful for her friends and family who have supported them along this journey.
“It’s really, really hard … It’s hard to deal with, like you going to the hospital. One minute they telling you that your baby can come home. Like he was supposed to come home Tuesday, but things shifted to the point to where he can’t come, right now, I don’t know when he’ll be home,” said Tonya.
This is not the only weekend you can support KJ’s family and the other three.
Horror at the Fairgrounds will also be open next weekend.
Tickets are $10 for the haunted house and $5 for the haunted hayride, but anyone is welcome just to donate or buy concessions.
The “horror” starts at 6 p.m. each night
