Help and Hope Happen Here

Harper Wengrod was born on January 12th of 2024 and by the end of that year , a lump on her abdomen that her dad Joe found after Thanksgiving that was thought to be Neuroblastoma was the probable cause. That was not to be the case however as Joe and Melanie were to learn that Harper was actually suffering from Stage 3 Sertoli Cell Ovarian Cancer. This is such a rare diagnosis for a child not even a year old to receive, as Ovarian Cancer is found in women decades older than that. Harper continues to fight her battle on a daily basis and physically it looks as if she is a completely healthy toddler.

After hearing the story of a friend that had a child who was diagnosed with a form of Pediatric Cancer, Mike Dechristopher got involved in this Pediatric Cancer cause in 2012 and started the Dylan Project. This Non-Profit now has helped hundreds of families in the New England area and brings joy to these kids by buying gifts each holiday season and delivering them to their homes, giving him the nickname of the Real Life Santa Claus, a nickname that is well deserved. 

Lainy Sharpe began to feel numbness in her legs, followed by paralysis when she was 12 years old in the summer of 2023. Her diagnosis was Mesenchymal Chondrosarcoma, which as rare of a diagnosis as it gets. Lainy fought as hard as possible before passing away in January of 2025 and was very much a part of the Pediatric Cancer community during her fight, which was proven by her winning the Children's Healthy Hero Award for her dedication to helping others at Banner Children's Hospital in Tucson, Arizona.

Elena Lappostato was complaining of mouth pain in September of 2025 and just a couple of weeks later, she was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma when she was 3 years old. Since that time , Elena has undergone difficult treatment including 2 autoglous stem cell transplants and is now doing well and has recently begun the next phase of her treatment which is Post Consolidation.

After winning the Vault event and finishing 2nd in the All Around Competition in the Hawaii Gymnastics Championship in November of 2017, 11 year old Kaylan Haywood competed for the first time since her winning performance in January of 2018. What resulted was Kaylan's side being weak, her foot was dragging, and her arm was hanging. In February she was diagnosed with DIPG and only was able to live for 6 more months, as she passed away on August of 2018 from this most dreaded form of Pediatric Brain Cancer.

Dana Quiroga felt a pain in her knee during her entire soccer season in 2023 and during that summer this pain did not go away, leading to her diagnosis of the Bone Cancer Osteosarcoma. Dana underwent a replacement for her knee and tibia with a prosthetic substitute and now 3 years later, Dana is feeling well and has already chosen what she plans to do with her career which will involve Pediatric Nursing.

Grace Fulcher was 16 years old in 2015 when she began to complain about double vision. Her double vision led to a diagnosis of a non curable Pediatric Brain Tumor known as an Anaplastic Astrocytoma. Grace was given 3 years to live and she did her very best in trying to make those 3 years meaningful. Grace continued with her high school studies, being a member of the National Honor Society for 3 years, and graduating Summa Cum Laude with a 4.4 Grade Point average. Because of the acceleration of her brain cancer, Grace went to college for only her first semester of freshman year in which she hoped to become involved in Neo Natal care. Grace passed away at the age of 19 on October 24th of 2018.

Darline Medina's daughter Brooklyn was full of health for the 1st 2 years of her life until the winter of 2023 when Brooklyn began to experience abnormal movements in her left eye. Her eye looked okay when examined by an eye doctor but her walking did not look okay and this led to her diagnosis of DIPG. Brooklyn's diagnosis took place in April of 2023 but her life span from that day until her passing on February 17th of 2024, was just 10 months, and took place one month before her 4th birthday.

Jameson Doud was nearing his 8th birthday in August of 2024 when he was diagnosed with a Midline High Grade Glioma Pediatric Brain Cancer. In March of 2025 the Doud family got very good news that there were no signs of any cancer from the most recent scans but just a couple of months later, Jameson's scans showed that his cancer had spread to his bone and Jameson was not expected to last until Christmas of 2025. That expectation went too far unfortunately and James on passed away from this disease on August 12th of 2025.

In May of 2025, 5 year old Rosie Wittmayer was found to have a double ear infection and then began to develop fevers every 2-4 weeks. These fevers were checked out regularly but no solution was found , with one possibility floated that she had the Mumps. Finally on August 27th, Rosie and the Wittmayer family received her diagnosis of B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Rosie has been through nearly 11 months of treatment and still has more than a year left as her scheduled date to end her treatment protocol will be in November of 2027. Fortunately Rosie is doing well physically .