Kid Konnected: They had stories to tell
Nine-year-old Delaney Coullahan hugs her mother, Cheryl, who is being treated for breast cancer at the Hoag Cancer Center in Newport Beach, before a meeting of Kids Konnected. The Kids Konnected group helps children cope with their parents’ illness and gives them a support group that offers compassion and understanding during difficult times. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Conner Murphy has a laugh with Courtney Poore at a Kids Konnected meeting at the Hoag Cancer Center in Newport Beach. Kids Konnected helps children and teenagers cope with the trauma of having a parent who is battling cancer or has died from the disease. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Grady Murphy,19, listens to others in the Kids Konnected group talk about dealing with their parents’ cancer. Murphy lost his mother to breast cancer and now helps other teens deal with their struggles and losses. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Lynette Wilhardt, lower left, leads a group of teens who have either lost a parent to cancer or have a parent battling the disease. The Kids Konnected group was formed several years ago by an Orange County teenager whose mother had cancer. It provides an opportunity for others in similar circumstances to share their feelings. Group members have published a book of stories, poems and essays about their experiences called “Love Sick.” (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Conner Murphy gets comfortable at the Kids Konnected meeting at the Hoag Cancer Center in Newport Beach. Conner lost his mother to breast cancer and now attends the Kids Konnected meeting with other young people who either have parents with cancer or have lost a parent to the disease. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
