The first time Ashley Bernath dropped her then-three-year-old daughter, Charlie, off at preschool, there was no hug, no tears, no long goodbye — just a quick “see you later” and a full-steam-ahead dash for the classroom. Charlie’s excitement that morning in September 2025 was understandable. She had spent the previous 15 months in active cancer … Read more
Like many teenagers with cancer, Declan Cassidy, 16, has endured having his life interrupted by surgery, chemotherapy infusions, and other treatments. In his case, however, the greatest ongoing challenge goes beyond the cancer itself. Declan is legally blind, the result of an optic pathway glioma — a slow-growing brain tumor that forms in and around the optic nerves connecting the eye to the brain. … Read more
The walk is a little different each day, sometimes a twisting, turning path through the various side streets of Boston’s Longwood Medical Area, and on other occasions more of a straight line down bustling thoroughfares. One thing, though, remains consistent: no matter which route Paris Prinsen, 21, takes from her apartment to classes at the … Read more
Nolan Young has aspirations of a career in both the Air Force and FBI, and even at age 15 it’s easy to imagine him achieving these goals. After all, when you’ve already endured the rigors of chemotherapy, radiation, emergency surgeries, and a stem cell transplant for T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) — all before high … Read more
As a record-setting high school runner, Colby Rochford was an anchorman — the guy teammates depended on to take the baton and sprint to victory. These days, while away at college, Rochford is still a young man in a hurry. The opponent now is T-cell lymphoma, and every third Monday, he dashes from class to … Read more
With the Boston Red Sox having their best season in years and contending for the playoffs, crowds have been regularly filling Fenway Park to capacity this summer. For one small contingent of these baseball fans, the trips will prove especially meaningful regardless of what transpires on the field. This rotating group, mostly young children and … Read more
Like many teenagers, Isabella (Bella) Snow Fraser, 15, enjoys immersing herself in action role-play games online. Her favorite, Genshin Impact, allows participants to join an interstellar traveler as they seek their lost twin across a mysterious world of danger and unforeseen challenges. This futuristic fantasy in many ways mirrors Bella’s own life. After being diagnosed … Read more
Jake Maguire was just three days away from his sixth birthday when he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Encouraged by his father, a gym teacher, the young Maguire was already in love with sports, especially baseball. Now 23 and over a decade out of treatment, that love is still strong, and Maguire is … Read more
She may be an accomplished competitive skier, but Maggie Gove, 15, is just as adept at getting up and over mountains as she is racing down them. Gove is a three-time cancer survivor who has managed to keep up on the slopes and with her studies despite long periods sidelined by surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation … Read more
Among the most memorable on-air guests during the first WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon — a live, 36-hour broadcast held each summer to benefit Dana-Farber patient care and research — was Todd Schwartz, a 19-year-old patient in Dana-Farber’s Jimmy Fund Clinic. Here, Todd’s mother, Janet Schwartz, reflects on her son’s appearance that day in 2002, his … Read more
Most teenagers can’t wait to grow up. At 19, Sara Almheiri was initially deemed too old — at least by the physicians who first diagnosed her with cancer. Complaining of terrible bellyaches that baffled doctors in her native Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sara had traveled in late 2016 to South Korea, … Read more
Asked how he has dealt with three bouts of bone cancer and a partial right leg amputation in less than four years, 14-year-old Jack Berry says that he takes things “one step at a time.” That is, when he’s not surfing, riding his mountain bike, sprinting across tennis courts, or winning ski races. An osteosarcoma … Read more
First Cinthia Roman Manrique learned she had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Then the 8-year-old Peru native was uprooted from her school, family, and friends when she flew with her mother in early 2017 to the United States — where chances of a cure for her high-risk cancer were better. In the U.S., Cinthia’s challenges continued … Read more
Brian Regan knows how overwhelming it can be to hear the words “you have cancer” as a teenager. That is why, nearly a decade after his own diagnosis, he feels compelled to help young patients and families currently grappling with the physical and emotional challenges of treatment. Regan, 27, is a member of the Pediatric … Read more
Rosemary Iwakura, 17, was experiencing strange symptoms before her acute lymphoblastic leukemia diagnosis (ALL) almost two years ago. She was unable to focus on her schoolwork or activities and fainted on several occasions at school and at home. “I thought; ‘People faint for many reasons,’” she recalls. “We weren’t sure if we were supposed to … Read more
Nytasha Jette was panicked when her two-month-old son, Elyahs Jones, was found to have an extraordinarily high white blood cell count — over 300,000 — during a regular check-up. The family physician noted that Jones had very pale hands and was worried that the child wasn’t getting proper blood flow. Jette rushed Jones to Dana-Farber/Boston … Read more
To see Tara Daniels today, with a corporate job in marketing and about to close on a house, you’d never know what she’s been through, how thrilled she is to be alive. This month marks five years since she received a high-risk bone marrow transplant for a life-threatening blood cancer. Tara woke up feeling sick … Read more
Each time the UPS truck makes its way up Becky Baker’s driveway in Lyons, New York, her 3-year-old grandson, Cal, is certain there’s a package for him. Today, the delivery is in fact for Cal — but not exactly the drivable mini Jeep he was hoping for. “Those are your diapers, buddy,” his grandmother says, … Read more
The shock of a new cancer diagnosis was still settling in for Isabel Nordby when she and her parents made a decision that could greatly impact the teenager’s future — if and when the time is right. Before starting her chemotherapy protocol for Ewing sarcoma in April 2020, Isabel, then 15, had one of her … Read more
The last two school years will be remembered for the tremendous challenges they presented students due to COVID-19, but rising second-grader Caroline McMahan and her family were ready for the pandemic’s limitations after what they had already endured. By the time the pandemic began, Caroline, 7, was already adept at washing up, masking up, and … Read more