A ‘hero’s send off’ for girl who touched neighborhood

A little girl, who with her family, was supported by their Port Washington neighborhood during her fight with cancer, received a “hero’s send off” from area firefighters and law enforcement at her funeral on June 11.

Two-year-old Avery Handrow died  Thursday, June 6, of rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer of soft tissue, in her face.

Since Avery was first diagnosed with the disease in the spring of 2018, residents of the Misty Ridge neighborhood in Port Washington, where her parents Justin and Liz live with her siblings, twin brother Owen and 5-year-old sister Olivia, have helped the family in a number of ways, including raising money to help with the Handrows’ medical bills, tying yellow cancer awareness ribbons around most of the trees in the subdivision, providing gift baskets of food, helping with household chores, meals and decorating their house.

Neighbors also bought a fence picket at Possibility Playground dedicated to Avery and planted a tree in the neighborhood park.

Neighbor kids collected candy on Halloween for Avery and dropped it off at the Handrows’ front door.

For the Handrows, who moved to the subdivision from Grafton in 2017, the support was “graciously overwhelming,” Liz Handrow said.

In the long months of Avery’s fight against the disease, support poured in through a GoFundMe page, “Avery’s Hope,” which collected more than $25,000, and a Facebook page, “Her Fight is My Fight,” that the family used to share updates on Avery’s treatment and progress.

Her cause also was adopted by Alex’s Lemonade Stand, a charity for childhood cancer supported through Northwestern Mutual Life and an annual golf outing.

The Make A Wish Foundation selected the family for a trip to the Mall of America in Minnesota.

Unfortunately, Avery was admitted to the hospital on May 30 and died on June 6.

During her illness, a connection to firefighters and law enforcement developed, thanks in part to Justin Handrow’s friendships with members of the Greendale Fire Department. 

What became known as Operation Avery drew police and fire departments to donate patches, toys and other items to a playroom used primarily for Owen that features a toy firehouse.

“I thought it would be fun for the kids to decorate Owen’s firehouse,” Liz said.

Operation Avery went viral on social media and was seen by members of the Elkhart Lake Fire Department, who visited the family and gave the Handrow children rides in a fire truck.

“They came after they saw that I posted about departments donating patches,” Liz said.

“When Avery died, Justin mentioned he would like to give Avery a hero’s send off,” neighbor Sara Pashak said. 

With the help of neighbors and friends in the Grafton and Greendale fire departments,  people responded.

“They were all super into helping. It was really heartwarming,” Pashak said.

Dozens of firefighters and police officers attended and joined in the funeral procession that went from St. Joseph Catholic Church in Grafton along Washington Street to the cemetery.

Police and fire departments represented in the funeral procession included those from Cedarburg, Elkhart Lake, Germantown, Grafton, Port Washington, West Bend, Greendale, Mequon, Thiensville and the Fire and Iron Motorcycle Clubs-Stations 37 and 96, made up of current and former firefighters.

Grafton police provided traffic control and facilitated the procession. The staging area was at Grafton High School.

“I didn’t realize until the day before the funeral that the motorcycles were going to come,” Liz said. “The support for our family was just amazing. Very few of the people involved we knew personally. It really showed the power of community.”

Misty Ridge neighbors lined the street as the procession passed, with fire trucks, police squad cars and motorcycles following the hearse and cars containing family members.

“It was super emotional and beautiful,” Pashak said.  “All of us just thought of how heartwarming it was that these departments were willing to help us.”

A lasting legacy of Avery’s ordeal, Liz said, is that she hopes it raised awareness of childhood cancer.

“Childhood cancer only receives 4% of cancer research dollars,” she said.

Accordingly, the family has asked for donations in Avery’s memory to Kisses From Keegan and Friends at www.kissesfromkeegan.org; or Gamerosity of Wisconsin at www.gamerosity.com.