Kathy Wakile and Her Family Battle for Children's Brain Tumor Awareness

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., Feb. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- After fainting during a family vacation in 2004, ten-year-old Victoria Wakile, was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  That is when the battle began for the close-knit Wakile family whose matriarch, Kathy, would go on to reality TV fame on the Real Housewives of New Jersey. According to the Children's Brain Tumor Foundation, there are nearly 5,000 brain tumors diagnosed each year with nearly 30% of those resulting in a terminal diagnosis.

Fortunately, Victoria's tumor was benign and after successful brain surgery at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York, she made a successful recovery.  Unfortunately, ten years later a then 20-year-old Victoria was once again diagnosed with a recurrence of the brain tumor.  Despite the surgery carrying even more risk at an older age, Victoria's surgery was successful and she has since made another full recovery.  

Since Victoria's initial diagnosis, Kathy and her family have been extremely vocal supporters for brain tumor associated causes.  Kathy's philanthropic work has focused on raising awareness about brain tumors.  Specifically, the Children's Brain Tumor Foundation has provided support for the Wakiles since Victoria's first battle with the illness.

Kathy's celebrity status has provided a vehicle to help shine light on the cause which has so deeply touched her family. Beyond the Real Housewives of New Jersey, Kathy has also taken on the role of brand ambassador for PalaCasino.com – one of the newly legal and authorized online casinos in New Jersey.

Through her relationship with PalaCasino.com, Kathy Wakile hopes to give back even more.   PalaCasino.com has pledged to support Kathy and the Children's Brain Tumor Foundation with a February fundraising drive.  Every new player who signs up at PalaCasino.com with registration code "Kathy" will be given $50 in free bonuses.  Also, for every one of those new players who makes $50 in deposits, PalaCasino.com will donate $50 to the Children's Brain Tumor Foundation up to a total of $10,000.

"Family is very important to me and it is great that my relationship with PalaCasino.com will raise awareness and much needed funds for the Children's Brain Tumor Foundation," Kathy Wakile said.   

For the last several years, Victoria has stepped up in her own right to be a public face to help raise awareness for the Children's Brain Tumor Foundation. 

"When the Children's Brain Tumor Foundation asks me to speak I am always so honored.  I had no idea that my story would touch and help so many others. Being a patient a second time at 20 years old while already working with CBTF solidified my career goal in being a nurse," Victoria Wakile said.  "With my experience as a patient and with the unbelievable nurses I have had, to be that for someone else will be so rewarding and fulfilling." 

Kathy added, "A lot of children don't have a great prognosis, and that's widely known, but there are fortunate situations like Victoria's where there can be a lucky positive outcome and these children and families need an encouraging supportive voice, which Victoria has been happy to assist with."

The Children's Brain Tumor Foundation recently honored the Wakiles in California for their contributions to raise awareness.  A central cord of the Children's Brain Tumor Foundation is to lend support for all parts of the family in their times of need.  That support ranges from monetary donations for applicable research to humanitarian programs. 

"Children don't really know how to describe what they are feeling as they go through this and they need their parents and the adults who are around them to be their biggest advocates," Kathy Wakile continued.   "Also, the rest of the family is greatly impacted as well and it is important that everyone in the family knows that they are loved and supported during such an emotional time."

Over the years Kathy and her family have been deeply involved in fundraising. But for Kathy and her family it has always been more about awareness than money. When her family first joined the Real Housewives of NJ, it was with the hopes that the platform of the show would assist with awareness.

Kathy is excited about the relationship with PalaCasino.com because sometimes she feels guilty taking time for herself regardless of whether it is work or play.

"As a parent, our days are so full and you carve out a little time just for you or your work and you feel a bit guilty because it's taking you away from other things.  This project with PalaCasino.com makes me feel good because the time I am spending playing on Pala or supporting the brand, I know a portion of that energy will come back to support a cause I care so much about," Kathy Wakile said.   "To be able to have fun and give back at the same time, you're getting a little down time and giving back to something that's so much bigger than you."

Kathy is a brand ambassador for both PalaCasino.com and PalaBingoUSA.com and an integral part of the online gaming site's team.

"Kathy and Victoria's story is inspiring to us and we are excited to help raise awareness for the Children's Brain Tumor Foundation through this program," said Jeremy Clemons Chief Marketing Officer Pala Interactive.

For more information on PalaCasino.com's partnership with Kathy Wakile and the Children's Foundation visit https://playcasino.palacasino.com/kathy/
For more information of the Children's Brain Tumor Foundation visit www.cbtf.org

About Pala Interactive, LLC
Pala Interactive, LLC in an online social and real money gaming software development company that was founded in 2013 in anticipation of burgeoning social and real money gaming opportunity in the United States.  For more information about the Company, visit www.PalaInteractive.com.

SOURCE Pala Interactive, LLC

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