September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Join us today, September 26, 2009 as CURE Childhood Cancer honors CURE Kid Catie Wilkins. Join our fight as CURE’s Kids Conquer Cancer One Day at a Time! Donate to Catie’s Fund.
Catie Wilkins’s Story:
Catie Wilkins was the firstborn child of Tre’ and Jenny Wilkins. A slight gross motor delay led to an eventual diagnosis of medulloblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor, on her first birthday. Catie and her family were plunged into a world of doctors and surgeries and chemotherapies and medicines with little warning.
Catie’s treatments included 12 surgeries, 4 different chemotherapy protocols and 6 weeks of radiation. Her tumor continued to persist and eventually grow even through very harsh treatments. She battled cancer for 3 years and 4 months before succumbing to a common virus due to an immune system that was compromised because of chemotherapy.
Catie battled cancer for most of her life, but more importantly, she lived FULL for her entire life. Often people who hear that she fought this wretched disease for all but her first year feel that she must have had a rough existence. Folks who think this did not know Catie. She crammed a whole lot of living and fun and laughter into her all too short 4 years and nearly 4 months.
Catie was funny and tough, loving and mischievous. She was quick to tease her daddy and you should have heard her laugh when she pulled something off on him. Her favorite place on earth was the beach where she loved to catch hermit crabs and play in the sand. She was an animal lover, with dogs and tree frogs topping her list of favorites.
It’s impossible to capture the essence of Catie in just a few words. She was, in some ways, just a normal kid. But she was an old soul with a wisdom beyond her years. Those who knew and loved Catie were forever changed by the enormity of her spirit and determination to live FULL in spite of what life threw at her.
About September & CURE’S Kids Conquer Cancer One Day at a Time:
September is recognized as National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. This September, CURE Childhood Cancer has committed to raising awareness and raising money to help find a cure for childhood cancer in our lifetime and put an end to this terrible disease through a special program CURE’s Kids Conquer Cancer One Day at a Time!
Please help us in our goal of raising $30,000 in the month of September while honoring special CURE kids each day of the month who have been affected by childhood cancer.
For more information, please click here.
About CURE Childhood Cancer:
Founded in 1975, CURE Childhood Cancer is dedicated to conquering childhood cancer through research, education and support of patients and their families. Since its establishment as a grass-roots organization, CURE has focused its efforts on improving the care, quality of life, and survival rate of children with cancer.
The founders, parents and a dedicated pediatric oncologist, joined forces to support laboratory research that would translate into immediate care for children with cancer.
Since that time, CURE has raised millions of dollars to fund cutting edge research at the Aflac Cancer Center Blood Disorders Service at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University School of Medicine.
Through innovative programming, CURE also provides support for stricken families, providing them comfort and support during their time of devastating need.
Donate to Catie’s Fund
Visit us online at www.curechildhoodcancer.org for more information.
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