Children are not just numbers
Inspired by an article on PAC2, about a speech given by Annette McKeon, regarding her daughter Aimee and childhood cancer:
" I can stand here and give you statistic after statistic. I can stand here and tell you about the various forms of cancer that affect our children today. I can stand here and tell you that cancers in children get the least amount of federal funding to be shared amongst the 12 major forms of cancer as well as there many subtypes. I can show you graphs that tell you how many children are affected by each different form of cancer. But, they are nothing more then a bunch of numbers… Children are not numbers on a chart, they are not statistic‘s on a page. They are human beings who deserve a chance at life just as you and I have had."
Annette goes on to describe children who are not just statistics. They are real children, living in this world of childhood cancer. Instead of using her examples, I would like to add my own:
Ariel was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma in October of 2007. She was a spunky twin girl, with a love of baseball, especially the San Francisco Giants and Romo. She passed away after a brave battle and multiple relapses and complications in December of 2012.
Per died on Easter Sunday in 2010 at the age of 9. He was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma in 2004, a battle he won, and then Glioblastoma Multiforme in 2007. He loved stuffed animals and school.
Nolan, my brother, was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma in December 2006. He loves football and video games. During his treatment, he collected penguins from the different cities in which we received treatment, with his favorite being Boston, from where he got his radiation treatments. Nolan is now a junior in high school, a long term survivor.
Children are not statistics, their outcomes are not numbers. There is no math that can describe what childhood cancer does, what pain it causes.
Read the PAC2 article here: http://curechildhoodcancer.ning.com/profiles/blogs/children-numbers?xg_source=activity
" I can stand here and give you statistic after statistic. I can stand here and tell you about the various forms of cancer that affect our children today. I can stand here and tell you that cancers in children get the least amount of federal funding to be shared amongst the 12 major forms of cancer as well as there many subtypes. I can show you graphs that tell you how many children are affected by each different form of cancer. But, they are nothing more then a bunch of numbers… Children are not numbers on a chart, they are not statistic‘s on a page. They are human beings who deserve a chance at life just as you and I have had."
Annette goes on to describe children who are not just statistics. They are real children, living in this world of childhood cancer. Instead of using her examples, I would like to add my own:
Ariel was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma in October of 2007. She was a spunky twin girl, with a love of baseball, especially the San Francisco Giants and Romo. She passed away after a brave battle and multiple relapses and complications in December of 2012.
Per died on Easter Sunday in 2010 at the age of 9. He was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma in 2004, a battle he won, and then Glioblastoma Multiforme in 2007. He loved stuffed animals and school.
Nolan, my brother, was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma in December 2006. He loves football and video games. During his treatment, he collected penguins from the different cities in which we received treatment, with his favorite being Boston, from where he got his radiation treatments. Nolan is now a junior in high school, a long term survivor.
Children are not statistics, their outcomes are not numbers. There is no math that can describe what childhood cancer does, what pain it causes.
Read the PAC2 article here: http://curechildhoodcancer.ning.com/profiles/blogs/children-numbers?xg_source=activity
Comments
Post a Comment