St Jude patient Sully with her sister
Sully's story
Sullivan — Sully, as everyone calls her — is a barefoot adventurer who loves feeding the miniature donkeys on her family’s Alabama farm. But she also loves to play dress up with fancy clothes, shoes and sparkly costume jewelry.
“She’s my spicy one,” her mother, Madelyne, said of the younger of her two daughters. “She’s my outdoor lover.”
That spark — equal parts grit and glitter — has carried Sully through more than a year of treatment for a brain tumor.
It started in the summer of 2024 with intermittent vomiting. Then Sully’s eyes began to cross.
A CT scan confirmed what Madelyne had already feared.
St Jude patient Sully
St. Jude patient Sully with her family
I had this weird feeling. I told my husband, ‘I think Sullivan has a brain tumor.’
- St. Jude patient Sully's mother
Sully was referred to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
In December 2024, Sully completed treatment. The family returned home, trying to settle into a new rhythm. But at Sully’s next checkup in March 2025, scans revealed evidence of metastatic cancer.
In June 2025, Sully completed six weeks of radiotherapy. She continues treatment at St. Jude.
Asked what St. Jude means to her, Madelyne said:
It’s home. It’s second chances.
St Jude patient Sully with her parents
Help give more kids a chance to grow up
Every child deserves a chance to live their best life and celebrate every moment. When you support St. Jude, you can help make cures possible for kids with cancer. Together, we can save more lives.
GIVE THEM TOMORROW.
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