Fairhope Rod and Gun Club raises money to support baby battling cancer

By Matt Petras
For the MVI

Engaged couple Leslie Lane and Ryan Shaw noticed their 1-year-old daughter Alaina Shaw stopped eating in early May.
Multiple hospital trips later, including a 12-day stay at one hospital, the Monessen couple learned their daughter had a tumor on her spine and two cysts on her brain.
Care for Alaina comes with enormous costs, so her parents were happy when local residents donated thousands of dollars and the Fairhope Rod and Gun Club Sportsmen’s Committee donated $5,000.
“We’re extremely grateful that everybody has chipped in and recognized and has helped, because it is rare, and we’re very, extremely grateful for everything,” Lane said.
Alaina has neuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer that typically develops in babies. Alaina’s family opened an online GoFundMe page to help pay for surgery and other medical costs. This page has raised more than $3,000 from 53 donors in the past month. The family is still seeking donations. Their GoFundMe page can be found by searching “Alaina Shaw” on GoFundMe’s website.
The club’s sportsmen’s committee gifted the $5,000 separately from the GoFundMe page. The sportsmen’s committee, an entity of the private Washington Township club, heard of Alaina’s story from club President Cory Jordan.
“We had donated in the past to other charities, but they were outside of the community,” sportsmen’s committee Secretary Tom Popovic said. “And we figured we’d donate to someone directly in the community this time.”
Lane was stunned when she first learned of her daughter’s medical issues. Born just before the COVID-19 pandemic, Alaina had not left her house for much of her life. This made taking Alaina to the hospital, which can be scary for children, especially difficult for her parents.
“She’s lived through so much, and every ordeal that she had to deal with, it broke my heart,” Lane said.
Her illness affects her mood and can keep her up at night in pain. Lane and Shaw have had late nights taking turns holding Alaina.
“She wants to be held, and I’m going to spoil my baby, you know what I mean?” Lane said. “I’m gonna hold her until my arm breaks off, and it was at that point.”
Lane has taken on the role of full-time, stay-at-home mom for Alaina, and Shaw has been able to take time off from his work in construction to be with their daughter when staying at the hospital.
“I’m glad that we were both able to be there for her,” Lane said. “I cried. Maybe not as much as she did.”
Alaina has been taking steroids and began chemotherapy today. Regular treatments may last as long as a year, but it’s difficult to know for sure. The parents look forward to a day when her cancer has been completely eradicated.
“When you’re down there at the children’s hospital, when you’re done, and you’ve completed and you’ve beat the cancer and everything, they have a bell and stuff,” Lane said. “I’m waiting for that day.”