September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Join us today, September 18, 2009 as CURE Childhood Cancer honors CURE Kid Tyler Copley. Join our fight as CURE’s Kids Conquer Cancer One Day at a Time! Donate to Tyler’s Fund.
Tyler Copley’s Story:
Tyler was a very active and curious child growing up. He developed a great love of sports, playing baseball and basketball, and watching any sporting event that was available. His passion for The Ohio State Buckeyes, Boston Red Sox, and the Atlanta Thrashers was very evident in just about every aspect of his life. He could spout out any statistic at a moments notice and was quite proud of that. As Tyler grew up his compassion shined through when he was around kids with special needs, whether it was in the special education room at his high school or with kids at the hospital.
On January 15, 2002, Tyler was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma in the left tibia/fibula with metastasis in his lungs. He underwent almost a year of chemotherapy with six weeks of radiation to both areas and finished treatment in November, 2002. A biopsy was performed at the end of June 2004 when Tyler began complaining of pain, but the biopsy was negative. After the pain worsened, a second biopsy in October, 2004 showed that Tyler had indeed relapsed with metastases to the lungs. After three years of “quality of life” chemo and graduating from high school, Tyler decided it was time to “go big or go home”. He made a huge decision that was not influenced by any doctor. In July 2007, Tyler had his left leg amputated above the knee to rid himself of the chronic pain and hopefully the cancer for good. He quickly adjusted to life as an amputee and worked hard to get back into “normal life”. Tyler worked hard at rehabilitation and began training to participate in a team triathlon for challenged athletes. He even started college. Tyler was very outspoken about his support for childhood cancer research and was always willing to do what he could for the few charities dedicated to research and helping kids with cancer. He would speak at events, write articles to newspapers, and advertise for any charity willing to help kids fighting cancer. He even allowed a series of articles to be written about his fight up to the very end so that others on the outside could get a glimpse of just what it takes to fight this disease.
Sadly, on May 27, 2008 Tyler’s lung CT showed many tumors growing in his lungs. Tyler chose to live his life to the fullest without any more treatments. He passed away in his sleep in the early morning hours of Aug 7, 2008.
Tyler told a reporter last year of his faith in God, and that he wanted people to know that being a Christian didn’t mean living a boring life. He told him, “Live for today, but prepare for tomorrow. Even if you don’t want to go outside your box, do. Go skydiving. Find the joy in your life. But be prepared, make sure you’re ready.”
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 Tyler’s Fund
Visit us online at www.curechildhoodcancer.org for more information.
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