Teens & Young Adults

Sarah’s Story: Thank You for Giving to Childhood Cancer Research

by St. Baldrick's Foundation
November 26, 2013

Sarah gives hope and thanks after fighting cancer for the second time. You can give hope to kids with cancer, too.  Fund Research

Sarah-thanksgiving-fall-trees
Sarah was diagnosed with biphenotypic leukemia — a rare combination of both acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia — at the age of 14, enduring 20 months of chemotherapy. In 2008, she celebrated five years in remission.

Then a checkup in June 2010 revealed that the leukemia had returned. Sarah’s only hope for a cure was a stem cell transplant.

“There’s no easy way to say what it’s like being a young adult with cancer … it’s harder than you can imagine,” Sarah says. “The physical and emotional tolls were just awful and for the longest time, I couldn’t remember feeling well. I had a lot of pain, nausea, and was so weak I couldn’t do even the simplest of things.”

After fighting complications from her treatment and the adjustment of her new immune system to her body, Sarah is now in remission.

As a two-time St. Baldrick’s shavee, Sarah has raised over $19,000 for pediatric cancer research. But what she didn’t know was that the research she was funding would end up saving her own life.

“I never dreamed that I would benefit from the research I helped fund,” Sarah says.

“I became a St. Baldrick’s volunteer to help make sure every child found the cure I had,” Sarah says. “I never dreamed that I would benefit from the research I helped fund. Every dollar raised for St. Baldrick’s will touch a life like mine.”

Because of childhood cancer research funded by St. Baldrick’s, a treatment was available for Sarah when her cancer relapsed.

“I will forever be grateful for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation,” Sarah says. “Not only have they supplied the world with beautiful bald heads, but they funded the clinical trial that ultimately saved my life. St. Baldrick’s has shown me that there is hope, and that one day kids and young adults with cancer, just like me, won’t need to worry.”

Your gift to St. Baldrick’s saves lives. Visit our See the Impact page to learn more about how childhood cancer research funded by St. Baldrick’s is giving new hope to kids with cancer, or make a donation now.

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You may also be interested in these kids’ cancer stories:
We Had a Choice: Abby’s Fight Against Ph+ Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Life After Chemo: Hope, Faith, and Big Steps
A Moment of Peace and Gratitude with Song
If Childhood Cancer Hadn’t Returned, I’d Graduate Next Week

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