Photography by Bryan Rollins
David enjoys reading comic books like any other 9-year-old boy. But the library where he pulls books from is in a unique location. It’s the library inside the school at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“St. Jude is a truly special place,” says Tom Campbell, David’s grandfather and guardian. “It is a drop right down from heaven. I would never have expected St. Jude to do so much beyond the medical.”
David and his grandfather live in Honduras. In April 2016, David was diagnosed with cancer. He and his grandfather made the journey to St. Jude, where David is undergoing chemotherapy.
Bryan Rollins
“We got on a plane on a commercial flight. He was very sick,” Tom says. “We didn’t know until we got to the [St. Jude] gate if we got the referral from our doctor. It was such immense relief when the guard asked if we were the ones from Honduras.”
David is being treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. St. Jude has increased the survival rate for this form of cancer from 4 percent — before the hospital opened in 1962 — to 94 percent. David has come a long way during his first year of chemotherapy, but he still has about two more years to go in his treatment. Those are critical years in the education development of a child.
Bryan Rollins
Laurie Leigh, M.N., director of the St. Jude school program
That’s why St. Jude takes a holistic approach in caring for patients and their families. “Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food,” says Steve Cox, senior vice president of St. Jude marketing.
And when children like David are well enough, a big component in caring for them is helping them stay on track with school while receiving treatment.
“It’s part of the normality,” says Laurie Leigh, M.N., director of the St. Jude school program. “We want the kids to be kids. They need to play, to do all the things that kids want to do. We make sure they don’t lose their ‘kidness’ in all of this.”
Student patients work one-on-one with teachers in the St. Jude school program presented by Chili’s, using an individual learning plan tailored around their treatments.
For Tom Campbell, it was important that these needs be met for his grandson. “It’s critical that somehow he keeps up with his education,” he says, “because he may never catch up otherwise and that could lead to behavior problems.”
David is right on track academically and says he wants to be a veterinarian when he grows up. When he’s not at St. Jude for chemotherapy treatments and school, he likes playing the piano and guitar while staying at Target House in midtown Memphis.
Thanks and Giving
Thanksgiving kicks off the holiday season for many shoppers, but at St. Jude, this time of year kicks off its annual Thanks and Giving campaign.
St. Jude’s fight to end childhood cancer focuses on this mantra: “Give thanks for the healthy kids in your life, and give to those who are not.”
Unlike other hospitals, the majority of funding for St. Jude comes from donors. It costs $2.6 million per day to operate St. Jude, and public contributions provide more than 75 percent of the funds necessary to operate the hospital.
To learn more about the St. Jude Thanks and Giving campaign, please visit stjude.org or call 800-4ST-JUDE.