Keegan is a playful 5-year-old girl with a lot to say.
She is the funniest thing. She may seem quiet at first, but if you were to get down on the floor with her, she would carry on an entire adult conversation with you.
Her sparkling personality and ability to chat with adults may be partly because she has met more new people than many children as a patient at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Shortly before her second birthday, Keegan was waking in the middle of the night holding her leg and crying out in pain. When the pain moved to her hand and strange bruises began to show up on her body, Keegan’s mom knew something more was seriously wrong.
Their local children’s hospital called for bloodwork and the results confirmed what her mom had feared most: Keegan had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).
Families, like Keegan's, will never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food.
Thankfully, Keegan and her family were referred to St. Jude. Doctors immediately got to work trying to save her life.
Keegan’s family is so thankful for the generosity.
Keegan and her mother
St. Jude is a miracle in itself. When you walk down the halls of St. Jude, you see the little miracles running around, and it fills you with so much joy. St. Jude brings these kids in and makes them feel special through the worst part of their life.
Keegan and her brother
Meet more patients
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Meet Mila
Mila was found to have both Down Syndrome and a leukemia precursor. She underwent months of chemotherapy at St. Jude for acute myeloid leukemia, but even on days she didn’t feel great, she was smiling and playing.
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Meet Brayden
Brayden received chemotherapy as well as proton therapy for medulloblastoma at the first proton therapy center in the world dedicated solely to children.
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Meet Ava
At 6 years old, Ava had a lump on her neck and tests showed she had more lumps in her belly. Tests revealed that she had a cancerous tumor and was referred to St. Jude.
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Meet Phoenix
Christmas Day plans for Phoenix’s family didn’t include a life-altering trip to the hospital. But at St. Jude, this close-knit family has been given hope.
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Meet Cole
Cole is an active kid, who enjoys hiking with his dog, Stannis. Even a brain tumor can't diminish his love of life and its adventures.
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Meet Riku
While treatment for medulloblastoma is a difficult journey for 4-year-old Riku, his parents, Noriko and Jun, are there to give him strength and support along the way.
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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 Alana
Alana didn't let a cancer diagnosis get in the way of her dreams for the future. Neither did St. Jude.
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Sparrow's Story
Sparrow is a quiet, cautious baby who loves to cuddle. Her favorite person is her big brother, Jace.
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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 Liliana
Liliana is a patient at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital where she was treated for liver cancer at 8 years old.
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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 Charlie
Diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in his shoulder, Charlie was referred to St. Jude then underwent chemotherapy and surgery to replace a cancerous bone with titanium.
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Meet Gideon
After Gideon was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma, he was referred to St. Jude for immediate treatment.
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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.