Hi - I'm Mike and I will be shaving my head alongside my son Sam on May 15th to raise money for pediatric cancer research, as participants for the St. Baldrick's Foundation.

Sam is volunteering to do this, not only to learn about giving back to the community but also in memory of his sweet older brother, Jack.

Jack was diagnosed with an aggressive, (currently) incurable form of brain cancer called Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG) when he turned 6 years old. Our world would forever change. We were shocked and devastated as Jack never presented any obvious symptoms, and yet we were told there was no cure, to go home and make memories. We poured countless hours into research and connected with over 60 physicians and researchers around the world - We were determined to defy the statistics because Jack is a warrior. 

Warrior Jack fought courageously for 16 months, enduring 6 weeks of whole brain radiation (where he lost most of his hair), numerous targeted drug therapies, countless doctor visits, hospital stays and multiple surgeries. Jack passed away in December 2021 after a brave and courageous battle of 16 months in Hong Kong.

Jack was a caring, kind and compassionate boy. If he was with us today, he would want us to live in a world where no family would need to face a DMG diagnosis without hope. That’s why we need to continue to raise awareness, advocate for more funding and raise money to fund research that will help us find a cure, so children like Jack have a fighting chance to experience life and joy.

Every day, thirteen children are diagnosed with a brain tumour, the deadliest and most common form of pediatric cancer yet less than 4% of federal funding is directed at pediatric cancer research, with only a small fraction of these funds being used for brain tumour research. 

Thank you for supporting Jack and the more than 300,000 kids worldwide who will be diagnosed with cancer this year.