Meet Jamia

Jamia was a very sick 3-year-old when she arrived at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Yet she had been active and playing right up to her cancer diagnosis.

In fact, her mom only took her to the hospital because she noticed Jamia was gasping for breath while playing outside.

There, an X-ray showed a large mass in her chest. She also had tumors in her right lung, which had collapsed, and tumors up and down her spine.

The diagnosis was neuroblastoma, a type of cancer arising from nerve cells.

Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since it opened more than 50 years ago.

She was referred to St. Jude right away, where chemotherapy was the first step in a long treatment plan.

Following a successful surgery, she underwent a stem cell transplant, radiation therapy and antibody therapy.

And through all these procedures and treatment, Jamia's family got to focus on what mattered most.

"They take care of everything – food, rides, where you’re going to sleep, medical bills," said Jamia's mom. "They’re going to take care of you – not just financially, but your child."