In March 2015, Leonay developed a fever that wouldn’t go away. Her doctor in Jamaica, where her family lives, prescribed medicine, but it had little effect. When the fever persisted, Leonay’s mother, Virginia, insisted the doctor look deeper. Tests soon revealed Leonay suffered from neuroblastoma. Soon after, Leonay and her mother arrived at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Leonay is a silly, happy girl who loves to dance, knows all the songs from Frozen and likes to pick out her outfits each morning.
At St. Jude, Leonay’s treatment included chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy and an antibody treatment. Leonay thinks her doctor is a giant teddy bear and she loves her nurses. Leonay recently completed treatment and is back home in Jamaica. She visits St. Jude every three months for checkups.
Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to more than 80 percent since it opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent, and we won’t stop until no child dies from cancer.
“ St. Jude has been our family. They make everything better.”
Leonay's mom, Virginia
Help our families focus on their sick child, not medical bills.
When you donate monthly, your gift means families, like Leonay's, 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.
Meet more patients
-
Meet patient Gideon
Baby Gideon is always ready with a smile — even when faced with a tough diagnosis. Read on to see how your support makes a difference to him and his family.
-
Meet Diana
Diana is a teenager from Honduras who survived acute lymphoblasitc leukemia and celebrated her Quinceañera.
-
Meet Rylee
Rylee is an outgoing girl. When she started to complain that her left leg hurt, an MRI revealed a mass on Rylee’s femur, so her family turned to St. Jude.
-
Meet Armando
St. Jude patient Armondo traveled from Guatemala to receive treatment. He was so inspired by the energy he felt at St. Jude that he helped start a blog to help other teens cope.
-
Meet Tayde
Three-time childhood cancer survivor Tayde remains dedicated to St. Jude — the place that saved her life and enabled her to become a mom to daughter Tayde Sofia.
-
Meet Da'Maya
Da'Maya's initial symptoms seemed minor. But after her mom, Sywanda, noticed she seemed sleepy in church, she became worried. A biopsy revealed cancer.
-
Meet Nick
St. Jude patient Nick never let cancer get in his way. Find out how he is raising money for St. Jude this September.
-
Meet Lilly
Even after a diagnosis of medulloblastoma at the age of 8, patient Lilly continues to live out her love of music and dance, one day at a time.
-
Meet Esmeralda
Esmeralda is a playful, loving girl who loves to play with dolls. When she was found to suffer from Wilms tumor, her family turned to St. Jude.
-
Meet Millie
Three-year-old Millie is undergoing treatment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for Wilms tumor, a type of kidney cancer.
-
Meet Emily
St. Jude patient Emily and Alabama Shakes make music to cleanse the soul.
-
Meet Gayatri
When Gayatri was found to suffer from cancer, her father, an oncologist at a public hospital in India, knew that he wanted his daughter treated at St. Jude.
-
Meet Devon
Devon loves to play video games with his brothers, ride his bike and travel. But unlike most boys, Devon has cancer. Read his story.
-
Meet Monroe
Before he was found to have cancer, Monroe and his girlfriend were supporting St. Jude through Team Up for St. Jude.
-
Meet Lauren
During treatment for soft tissue cancer at St. Jude, Lauren found her life's calling when she used makeup to cope with the loss of her hair.
