Farouk was a healthy baby, but something seemed wrong with his eyes.
His parents, Hussam and Linda, were Syrian refugees living in Jordan when they learned Farouk had a type of eye cancer called retinoblastoma.
I said to the doctor, ‘He looks so healthy. It cannot be cancer.'
Families, like Farouk's, will never receive a bill from St. Jude for anything.
Farouk began treatment at a hospital in Jordan.
As the little boy finished treatment, Hussam and Linda learned they had obtained refugee status in the United States.
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Hussam and Linda asked their son's doctor where they should go for treatment, and he told them about St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
I didn’t know Tennessee, and I didn’t know any English. But our first step when we arrived in the United States was to get a referral to St. Jude.
For Farouk’s parents, St. Jude offered hope.
“St. Jude doesn’t just work in the United States. They teach doctors around the world how to take care of cancer,” Hussam said. “And for us, they think not only about your child, the patient, they think about you, the parents, and how you can take care of your child.”
We were so lucky to come here. It’s the best place ever. We feel like we are in our own home.
Farouk’s first checkup at St. Jude showed his cancer was in remission.
Today, Farouk is an outgoing kid who loves pizza, superheroes and swimming.
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