For weeks in early 2016, 2-year-old Londyn wasn’t well. Doctors thought she had pneumonia. When tests revealed Londyn was suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, her parents, Anthony and Kascie, were devastated. When they arrived at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital with Londyn, they were overwhelmed and scared.
But within moments of arriving, they felt a sense of peace. “Everyone was so welcoming,” Kascie said. “The doctors, the nurses, the cleaning staff.” 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 percent, and we won’t stop until no child dies from cancer.
Londyn’s treatment includes chemotherapy, but because her cancer did not go into remission, she also received a bone marrow transplant. Kascie has stayed at St. Jude with Londyn, and Anthony has traveled back and forth from home, so that he can continue working. “We’re thankful for everything St. Jude has provided for us,” Anthony said. “St. Jude helps to take the worry away.”
Throughout everything, Londyn has remained a sassy, happy little girl. She loves her baby dolls, dancing and playing hide and seek. “Londyn is my sunshine,” said Kascie. “We’re so grateful for everything St. Jude has done for us, for our family.”
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