My son, David, was diagnosed at 16 with terminal brain cancer. It rocked our world, to say the least, but David was steadfast. He had a strong faith and a positive outlook, and he was more concerned about others than himself. He told his family that he was glad that he was the one who got cancer and not one of his siblings. He also told us that he wanted us to keep helping other kids with cancer, no matter what happened to him. When he died at just 18 years old, our work had just begun. 

We took what we learned while David was sick and used that information to start helping researchers. At first through fundraising, but ultimately through the formation of a nonprofit that could help us focus more specifically on the work we saw as paramount: sharing data so that more researchers could work on finding cures. They told us they needed better quality data and more of it, so that is what we focused on. It turns out, artificial initelligence (AI) needs the same things, so a couple of years ago when people started looking for datasets to use with AI, all of that data was ready to be put to use. 

We've been on the ground working with doctors and researchers, and we've seen literally years shaved off of the research process. We've also seen patients prognoses improve... but not nearly enough. Lives are being extended by months, but we want years. We want kids to have a chance to grow up... get jobs... get married... all the things that David and so many others are missing out on. 

And while we are improving things for kids, we are also improving things for adults. The data sharing methodologies that are becoming more commonplace for pediatrics are getting the attention of folks on the adult side. We are poised to help put these same kinds of tools to work for adults with cancer, and for people with other types of rare diseases as well. 

One of the major ways we have funded these projects is through our race program with runDisney. Our runners have taught me about resilience and have inspired me on days that were tough to get through. They're our Ohana, and I've signed up to run Dopey with them to honor their efforts and do my part to share in this rather grueling experience with them. It will be my first marathon, so along with donations, I'm happy to have your thoughts and prayers!