When he was a kid, Trevor Schaefer was diagnosed with brain cancer. His family was living in McCall, but after he got sick he and his mom moved to Boise for his cancer treatment. Doctors removed a golf-ball sized tumor from the base of his brain, and radiation and chemotherapy followed. Now 26-years-old, Schaefer won his battle against cancer. This week he won another battle. After years of lobbying congress, a provision with his name on it is the law of the land.
Trevor’s Law calls on the federal government to document and respond to cancer clusters around the country. Cancer clusters are places where there’s a statistically higher occurrence of cancer. Schaefer wants research to be conducted to understand why these clusters happen, and how they can be stopped.
Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) wrote and shepherded the bill as a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. It strengthens communication sharing about instances of the disease between state, federal and local government.
Find reporter Frankie Barnhill on Twitter @FABarnhill
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