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% to more than 80% since it opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90%, 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
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Meet Micah
Micah was referred to St. Jude for treatment after a brain tumor was discovered during an emergency room visit prompted by persistent headaches and nausea.
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Meet Rylee
When Rylee was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, she was referred to St. Jude for treatment. She received chemotherapy and had surgery to remove the tumor. Amidst these challenges, the family found hope at St. Jude.
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Meet Yazleemar
Yazleemar is an outgoing and expressive teenager. In 2012, Yazleemar was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare cancer. St. Jude offered more than treatment to her and her family.
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Meet Kaleb
Kaleb was referred to St. Jude for treatment after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder that causes easy bruising and bleeding.
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Meet Hazel
Hazel was referred to St. Jude for treatment after a CT scan showed she had a brain tumor. It was diagnosed as medulloblastoma.
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Meet Misheel
Misheel was diagnosed with brain cancer and was referred to St. Jude, where she has received treatment, which included chemotherapy and radiation therapy. She has refused to let her illness keep her from spreading joy to others.
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Meet Chance
Chance was diagnosed with metastatic medulloblastoma. After surgery, referred to St. Jude, he received treatments for his brain and spine.
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Meet Samara
Samara was referred to St. Jude for treatment after being diagnosed with Wilms tumor. Samara was able to finish treatment well.
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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 Madeline
Madeline was referred to St. Jude for treatment after being diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a form of bone cancer.
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Meet Lizbeth
Lizbeth was referred to St. Jude for treatment after being diagnosed with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), a rare disorder of the immune system.
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Meet Kamryn
At 2 years old, Kamryn's bloodwork indicated he had a form of blood cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Doctors referred him to St. Jude where he would undergo more than 2 years of chemotherapy while growing to love activities like Music Therapy.
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Meet Gracie
What Gracie's mother initially thought was appendicitis turned out to be a far worse diagnosis for Gracie's condition: acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
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Meet Abigail and Gracie
At St. Jude, Abigail and Gracie are both undergoing treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
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Meet Ashley
When tests revealed Ashley suffered from blood cancer, her parents were devastated. “Your whole world comes crashing down on you,” said Ashley’s dad.