Meet Lea

She was diagnosed with blood cancer in January 2013. In 2015, Lea and her family arrived at St. Jude for treatment.

Lea was first diagnosed with blood cancer in January 2013. She underwent treatment in her home country of Canada, including a bone marrow transplant with her younger brother, Theo, as her donor. But in October 2014, Lea’s parents, Stephanie and Jean-Francois, learned she had relapsed. Along with Lea’s doctors in Canada, Stephanie and Jean-Francois determined that the best place for her to undergo a second transplant was at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®.

St. Jude patient Lea
with parents

“We knew St. Jude was doing a different type of transplant with natural killer cells,” Stephanie said. “Our doctors said St. Jude would be the best place.”

Jean-Francois, St. Jude patient Lea's dad

In January 2015, Lea’s family arrived at St. Jude. “From the moment we arrived, we know we made the best decision for Lea,” said Jean-Francois. Lea’s treatment included chemotherapy and a natural killer (NK) cell transplant, with Stephanie serving as her donor. Post-treatment, Lea’s family returned to Canada, with regular visits to St. Jude for checkups.

In March 2018, Lea returned to St. Jude for a checkup, during which tests revealed she had relapsed once again. Lea underwent chemotherapy to push the cancer back into remission, after which she had a third bone marrow transplant, this time with Jean-Francois as the donor.

“It’s a blessing to be here,” Jean-Francois said. “This is the place where they’ve given my daughter another chance, where they have given my daughter more time. It’s a very special place for us.”

Jean-Francois, St. Jude patient Lea's dad