Last year, I signed up to run the Boston Marathon with Boston Children’s Hospital Miles for Miracles team to honor my dear 16 year old son Eoghan's battle with Ewing Sarcoma - a rare and very aggressive cancer that mainly impacts teenage children.
Tragically, Eoghan never got to see me run in Boston as he succumbed to his illness on February 23, 2023. This year, I am back to run again, this time in his memory and to help fund Boston Children’s Hospital’s research program into treatment for pediatric cancers, including Ewing Sarcoma and Neuroblastomas.
During the 14 months Eoghan spent battling his cancer, our family learnt first hand about the tremendous work done at Boston Children’s Hospital. In that time, we had the support of almost every patient facing team at the hospital. You never want to be in a position where you need to have your child attend a hospital but when you are in need, you want one where they will treat you like a member of their own family.
Only 4% of all federal funding in the US for cancer research and 2% in the UK goes towards researching childhood cancers. Rare cancers like the one Eoghan suffered from receive practically no research funding and the first line treatment for it has hardly changed at all in the past 40 years.
Last year, the funds I raised from the marathon were the only funds directed towards supporting research into Ewing sarcoma and neuroblastomas. This supported a clinical research coordinator who helped conduct clinical trials focused on novel therapies for children with relapsed Ewing sarcoma. Without this support, Boston Children's would not have been able to open the number and types of pediatric cancer trials that they have been able to open over the last year.
Please support me, and support the hospital to continue making the difference to countless children’s lives. Every dollar raised is sorely needed and really matters. Please make a gift today.
