Landon Vargas was born on November 26, 2006. He was the oldest son of Beth and Ariel Vargas, and the playful older brother to three siblings. Landon loved to play sports and he always competed with determination, enthusiasm and a smile on his face. Whether winning or losing, Landon’s contagious laughter and positive attitude never wavered. …
Max, a CureSearch Challenge participant will be running his first marathon in memory of his friend, Josh, who passed away from Leukemia in 2014. Read more about their story below, and why Max is so dedicated to funding childhood cancer research. “Childhood cancer, let alone cancer in general, had never impacted me growing up until …
Manny was our extremely healthy, strong-willed, rambunctious little boy until age 3, when he was diagnosed with Stage 4 ALL (Burkitt’s Lymphoma). We were suddenly thrust into the overwhelming world of cancer and chemotherapy. Within a week of starting his chemo, Manny had severe complications that led to brain injury, infection, multiple surgeries, and prolonged mechanical ventilation. Over …
Ryan is currently a 5-year-old boy undergoing treatment for diffuse leptomeningeal glioneuronal tumor (DLGNT) at the University of Virginia (UVA). Diagnosed in March of 2019, Ryan’s family has traveled to various hospitals in hopes of a treatment to cure him, but unfortunately, there is not a cure for DLGNT this time. Ryan is only the …
Alex, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in 2012. Alex and his family have been participating in the CureSearch Walk since 2013. Their team — The A Team — has raised more than $127,000 to date! Alex is now 16 years old, and thanks to research advancements, he is thriving. “I think the biggest reason we …
When her daughter Kaitlyn was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), Stacey Jenkins was told that the cancer was likely to take her life within six to ten months. She learned that this deadly cancer attacks the area of the brain that controls essential functions—breathing, chewing, swallowing, hearing, taste and balance—and surgery was not an option. In December 2010, Stacey and her family entered this terrifying new world, and …
Nitin was diagnosed when he was in seventh grade with Medulloblastoma. He went through a 10 hour surgery, 6 weeks of radiation and a year long of chemotherapy. Besides the side affects of chemo radiation, he is doing very well and is currently a second year student at Georgetown University. We have participated in Cure …
Jack, born in the Bronx and raised in Glen Rock, NJ, was a 19 year old college student who had just finished his freshman year when he was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, an aggressive and rare bone cancer. Jack passed away October 2017 after a 16 month battle, one month short of his 21st birthday. When …
We lost our oldest son Owen on April 4, 2019 exactly 24 hours after his diagnosis of T-cell Leukemia at UVA. He was two weeks shy of turning 9 years old. Owen was a loving older brother and super active. He was active in Cub Scouts as well as having just joined soccer. His favorite …
I was introduced to the ugly world of childhood cancer when my cousin, Alisa Finley, was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 16. Over the next couple of years, I watched her fight and fight but always still smiling. I’d see her and her mom’s posts on Facebook about her battle and I …
