‘Pi Day with a Purpose’: Community comes together for toddler facing second cancer fight

SHELLEY — A community is rallying around a little boy fighting cancer by raising money and showing support on Pi Day with slices of hope.

The fundraiser dinner and silent auction, “Pi Day with a Purpose,” will be held on Saturday, March 14, at Shelley High School from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. It’s for 4-year-old Austin Currall, of Shelley.

Austin was diagnosed with Wilms tumor when he was just 2 years old. According to the Mayo Clinic, it’s a rare kidney cancer that mainly affects children, but it’s the most common cancer of the kidneys in children.

Symptoms include a palpable mass in the stomach area, pain or swelling in the stomach area, blood in the urine, fever, and high blood pressure.

“Around two years old, anybody who has a kid kind of knows that they start to lose all the fat and chub from being an infant,” said Michael Currall, Austin’s father. “His stomach stayed large. We’re like, ‘Okay, this looks kind of disproportionate to his frame.'”

Michael and his wife, Bridget, got Austin checked out at his pediatrician’s office in Idaho Falls, where a CT scan was ordered.

In December 2023, doctors found a tumor on Austin’s kidney, and at that point, it had been there long enough that it had spread to his lungs, Michael said.

Austin was sent to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. One of his kidneys was removed. To make matters tougher, he came down with RSV, was put on a respirator for five weeks, and was put in a medically induced coma.

“It was rough and it was scary,” Michael said.

Austin began chemotherapy and radiation for his lungs while all of this was taking place.

“In August of 2024, he still had some tumor tissue in his lungs, but it was small enough that they wanted to give him a break from chemotherapy. We kept tabs on those tumors for a few months, and then around the end of the year, they named him cancer-free because there wasn’t any growth,” Michael said.

However, in November of last year, he went in for his scans, and doctors found that the leftover tumor tissue was starting to grow again.

“They determined it was the same cancer, and so there’s no way to know 100% for sure, but the assumption is that the cancer was never fully gone in the first place. It was coming back somewhat aggressively. The tumors were growing pretty fast,” Michael explained.

Austin just began chemo again last month. His treatments are every two weeks, and he gets admitted for three days at Primary Children’s Hospital. He’s supposed to be doing chemo until at least July.

Since he is now 4 years old, he is starting to understand how to communicate with nurses and doctors.

“He’s getting more curious. He’s like, ‘Why do I have cancer? What is cancer?'” Michael said.

Austin has a good spirit about him, and he’s probably one of the most active kids that Michael and Bridget have. He is one of seven children, ranging in age from 12 to 5 months.

His family moved to Shelley a few months before his first diagnosis in December 2023. With extended family living in Washington state, neighbors and friends have stepped up to help the Currall family.

One of those people is Janel Andersen, who met the Curralls about a month ago and listened to their story.

“While we were talking to them, I just had a thought come to me that we really needed to surround them and support them during this hard time,” Andersen said. “They were thrown into the medical health whirlwind, and they didn’t know very many people in Shelley. My heart just went out to them.”

She asked the Currall family if she could organize a fundraiser, and they accepted.

“15 years ago, I was involved with helping a little boy in Shelley who needed a tumor removed from his heart, and we did a community dinner. So I’ve been part of one before. I’ve attended others before, and I thought this little family needs to know that they’re not alone in this,” Andersen said.

The theme of the fundraiser is “Pi Day with a Purpose: Slices of HOPE for Austin.” Event organizers are focused on circling around the Currall family with infinite love, offering emotional and financial support.

There will be a silent auction with donated goods and services, along with a dinner.

“We’re going to have pulled pork, and we have a lot of ladies in Shelley and some in Idaho Falls that are making homemade rolls. We have green salad and chips, and then we’re going to have some pie,” Andersen said.
 
Those attending can enter a $5 contest to write the digits of Pi from memory. The winner with the most digits wins a full pie.

“My greatest focus is to help them see and feel the love of community because that is a big part of what gets us through hard times like this,” Andersen said.

There are 3.14 ways to give a slice of hope:

 
• 1. Monetary donation: Contribute via Venmo @Ed-Currall with the last four digits 0959 or at the GoFundMe “Austin Currall” created by his grandma, Lisa Currall.
• 2. Join for dinner: Tickets are $15 each or $50 for a family of four; each additional person is $10. Pre-order tickets via Venmo @Laci-Jacobson with the last four digits 2034 (note the purpose, i.e., “Austin donation, 5 tickets”) or purchase tickets at the event.
• 3. Contribute to the silent auction: Donate a service, baked goods, or other new items with a description that event attendees can bid on. Contact Tiffany Versey at 208-243-1281 to contribute.
• 4. Bid on auction items: Participate in the silent auction from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the event.

Michael said he and his family couldn’t be more grateful. He said it’s been amazing to see different religions come together to help in a difficult time.

“We are part of the Catholic faith. This fundraiser is being put on by the LDS church (members), and some people involved, from what I understand, aren’t part of either church. It’s a testament to when horrible things are happening, everybody just needs to come together,” Michael said. “I think that’s good to see.”

He added that he believes you can handle whatever is thrown at you, as long as you handle it one step at a time.