Sam's Firestorm** is raising money to help burn cancer to the ground!

10 years ago, my six year old son Sam was a happy and active little boy. In spring of 2014, he started complaining about his tummy hurting, and we had no idea that it would turn out to be the worst diagnosis imaginable. On June 24th, 2014, we were told that Sam had Burkitt's Lymphoma, a very aggressive and rare form of non-hodgkins lymphoma. There was a tumor the size of a golf ball growing rapidly in his lower intestine. We were admitted immediately to the PICU at Newark Beth Israel Hospital to start chemo asap. We were introduced to our Oncology team and they had our trust from that moment on. As soon as we got to our room, we were greeted by Nicole, one of the child life specialists from The Valerie Fund. She had all sorts of treats and activities to help Sam ease into his situation. That day we realized we were exactly where we needed to be. Nicole, along with the amazing doctors, nurses, social workers, and the rest of the staff at TVF helped us get through two and a half months of grueling in-patient chemo. They helped us keep our sanity intact, our spirits high, and most of all, they saved my son's life.

Sam is now a junior in high school, and this June we will be celebrating 10 years of being cancer free! We are forever grateful for The Valerie Fund. #BecauseofValerie