This year, Elizabeth wants to dress up like a lion for Halloween. “She likes lions because they’re big and have manes and are orange,” her mom said. “She wants to roar loudly like a lion while she’s trick-or-treating.”
Elizabeth’s parents are grateful she’s happy and thriving. In August 2013, tests revealed Elizabeth suffered from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of blood cancer. Elizabeth’s doctor immediately referred her to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where she began two-and-a-half years of chemotherapy.
St. Jude patient Elizabeth in her Halloween costume in 2015.
During Elizabeth’s first year of treatment, she was inpatient during Halloween. Her mother remembers the bright, cheerful Halloween-themed drawings on the windows in the hallways outside of her hospital room. It was a way for St. Jude staff to bring Halloween to the kids who weren’t able to trick-or-treat. “People at St. Jude love their jobs, and they’re great with the kids,” said Elizabeth’s mom. “And that made it so much easier to be here.”
Elizabeth recently finished treatment and now visits St. Jude for regular checkups. Her family is grateful for how well she’s doing today. “Thanks to the people who donate to St. Jude, children who were never going to have a chance in life now have a chance,” said her mom. Because the majority of St. Jude funding comes from everyday people, St. Jude has the freedom to focus on what matters most — saving kids regardless of their financial situation.
Help our families focus on their sick child, not medical bills.
When you donate monthly, your gift means families, like Elizabeth'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 Cameron
Cameron is an exceptionally caring boy who has charisma and a resilience that's helping him push through while he's treated for medulloblastoma at St. Jude.
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Childhood Cancer Awareness Month - Meet Tony
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Childhood Cancer Awareness Month - Meet Myra
Myra was experiencing severe headaches, and it was discovered to be a rare form of lymphoma called primary CNS ALCL.
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Meet Harper
When Harper and her family discovered she had cancer, they approached her treatment like they approach sports — with the determination that she could beat it.
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Childhood Cancer Awareness Month - Meet Joanna
In 2017, 9-year-old Joanna was found to have medulloblastoma, a type of brain cancer, and began treatment at St. Jude.
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Meet Zac
By the age of 7, Zac had already completed treatment for blood cancer. Four years later, when he was diagnosed with bone cancer, his family turned to St. Jude.
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Meet Jason
Former patient Jason now works at St. Jude and goes the extra mile with the St. Jude Ride.
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Meet Felicity
With a diagnosis of 5 tumors in her brain and spine, Felicity is facing a struggle, but you wouldn't know it but you wouldn't know it by the constant smile on her face.
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Childhood Cancer Awareness Month - Meet Karique
As he undergoes treatment for retinoblastoma, Karique and his family have been on a difficult journey that's taken them from Antigua to St. Jude.
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Meet Dakota
It's hard to keep patient Dakota away from the kitchen, and thanks to the Nutriolicious cooking classes at St. Jude, he doesn't have to be away for long.
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Meet Amir
Though Amir has only known sickle cell disease and St. Jude since he was born, he's at a hospital that has been pioneering the treatment of the disease for more than 50 years.
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Meet Max
When Max's parents became Partners In Hope, they never would have guessed that they would be supporting their own son, who's undergoing treatment for anaplastic ependymoma.
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Meet Anna
Patient Anna wasn't able to celebrate her 16th birthday at home. Instead, a group of friends from her hometown made the journey to St. Jude, making her birthday a sweet success.
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Meet the dads of St. Jude
Marcus, Ricardo and Gustavo never thought that they would arrive in Memphis, Tenn. (where St. Jude is located) to care for their sick children. But they've found a second home at the hospital that has worked to save their children's' lives.
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Meet Mya
This year, patient Mya, who's receiving treatment for sickle cell disease, was selected to have a FedEx plane named after her at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
