St. Jude Flashpoint

A cold winter night leads to a powerful, chance encounter between two parents of St. Jude patients.

Jessica’s life is the stuff of a country song for sure, all that heartache and triumph. All that pain and gratitude. Maybe call it ‘A Grateful Heart’ – something she talks about a lot. And she finds just the man to write it.

Jessica got her name from another special little girl who commanded plenty of attention. So it’s no surprise when she lands her in front of the TV cameras – in Hollywood and Nashville. But even that’s no match for a promise made at the funeral of a friend who didn’t survive childhood cancer. A promise that changes her life. Again.

After 2.5 years of treatment, cancer is your life. It shapes your daily routines, your thoughts. In some senses, who you are. Then – and this frightened Jessica and her family - they send you home to find a new normal. For pre-teen Jessica, it led to a new life. “Her life was on a totally new trajectory when she was done.”

The unexpected conversation that changed Jessica’s life – even before the first round of chemo.

When your little girl is this sick, you don’t let your fear or worry show. Jessica’s mom says it over and over – she bottled up her emotions during her daughter’s low points. But those emotions pour out for the first time in this episode as the family retraces its steps to St. Jude.

Everything changed when the cancer diagnosis came for Jessica Turri at 9 years old. But her story isn’t what you think. Not even close. Relive her improbable life – from treatment at St. Jude to the set of a popular TV show, from Nashville TV news to country music – with members of her awestruck family. “I just know I’ve been offered so many chances and I’ve been given another chance at life and I really feel a lot of pressure to make that life count.”

Sounds like a country song, right? Just maybe because when life gives you a second chance, you live it like Jessica Turri. Like most good Nashville ballads, hers tells an unforgettable tale, from childhood cancer to TV scripts and, yes, country songs.