In September 2016, 4-year-old Lucas and his family were getting ready to travel to the United States from Chile for their family vacation.
With their passports in hand, the family was just weeks away from traveling when Lucas began having pains in his stomach. Initially, doctors in Chile diagnosed Lucas with an infection and sent him home.
But a few days later, the pain returned, and this time doctors suspected a mass. Within days, scans revealed Lucas suffered from neuroblastoma, a type of brain tumor.
Doctors immediately referred Lucas to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for his continuing treatment and care.
“All of the doctors in Chile agreed that St. Jude was the best place for Lucas,” said his dad, Carlos. “The work being done at St. Jude is years ahead of anything being done in Chile.”
St. Jude freely shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children.
At St. Jude, Lucas’ treatment includes chemotherapy and surgery to remove the tumor.
Lucas is responding well to treatment and the family is thankful for the care and support they’ve received.
“All of the doctors and nurses at St. Jude have been phenomenal and continue to be with us every step of the way,” said Carlos. “We’ve never seen anything like this."
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 Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn first came to St. Jude at just over a year old when she was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a soft tissue cancer. Despite all she’s been through, her smile shines bright.
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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 Brinley
In 2015, Brinley was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. She was cancer free for more than two years when, in 2019, her family learned the cancer had returned.