Drew was 2 years old when he was found to have acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer.
Determined to get Drew the best care, his family turned to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. St. Jude has increased our survival rates for ALL from 4% before we opened in 1962 to 94% today — the world’s best. Drew arrived in June 2013 and began three years of chemotherapy.
Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. “Knowing that we would never receive a bill from St. Jude, Danny and I can talk about what to do for Drew versus how we’re going to pay for treatment,” Shawna said. “It changes your whole mindset.”
Recently, Drew, his family and St. Jude staff tearfully celebrated the successful completion of his treatment with a “No More Chemo” party at St. Jude. “This is what St. Jude does,” Shawna said. “They fix kids who have cancer.”
Donate a "No More Chemo" party to help a St. Jude patient celebrate a special milestone.
Meet more patients
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Meet Eduardo
At 6 months old, Eduardo was referred to St. Jude where he was diagnosed with liver cancer. His treatment included surgery to remove the mass and chemotherapy.
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Meet Thiago
Thiago loves to dance to the rhythm of his dad's djembe. In 2019, he was born with bubble boy disease and was referred to St. Jude where he underwent a new gene therapy to save his life.
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Meet Aaron-James
At age 2, after being diagnosed with sickle cell disease, Aaron-James came to St. Jude where he loves talking to the nurses and doctors.
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Meet Imani
Imani was diagnosed with cancer at 5 weeks old. Her family feared the worst. But at St. Jude, there was hope for her future.
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Meet Leah
Leah is a big sister who loves dresses, shopping, singing and helping in the kitchen. In March 2019, she was referred to St. Jude for acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment, which included a transplant with her mother as her donor.
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Meet Elliott
Elliott is social and loves the outdoors. He also loves St. Jude, where he's being treated for leukemia.
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Meet Dahiralis
Dahiralis is a very active little girl who loves to play, jump and run everywhere. At 3 years of age, she was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancerous tumor, and was referred to St. Jude where doctors provided her much-needed treatment and care.
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Meet Melanie
When Melanie was diagnosed with brain cancer and referred to St. Jude, she wasn’t nervous. She was actually looking forward to treatment — chemotherapy, proton therapy and visits from St. Jude therapy dog Huckleberry — because to Melanie, St. Jude meant getting well again.
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Meet Harmony
Harmony is artistic, detailed-oriented and loves to debate. When she noticed something was wrong on her walks to class, no one expected the cause to be a stage four Wilms tumor.
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Meet Marina
Marina is a joyful 2-year-old who loves to laugh and dance with her siblings. She was referred to St. Jude after a white glimmer in her pupil led to her being diagnosed with retinoblastoma, an eye cancer.
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Meet Mia
Mia is a friendly, caring child who was referred to St. Jude from her home country of Nicaragua when she was 5 years old. She was diagnosed with anaplastic ependymoma, a malignant tumor in her brain.
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Meet Luis
Like many boys his age, Luis wanted to be a soccer player when he grew up. But then he was diagnosed with cancer. Now he wants to help kids like him.
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Meet Eleanor
Eleanor is a determined baby who arrived at St. Jude on her first birthday. She was diagnosed with down syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia, a type of blood cancer.
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Meet Fletcher
Fletcher is a 12-year-old boy and a huge Cleveland Browns fan. So it was a dream come true when he announced the team's pick in the NFL draft on April 23.
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Meet Jamia
Jamia is weathering difficulties far beyond her years as she undergoes treatment for neuroblastoma, a type of cancer arising from nerve cells.