Yesterday ended National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month but the fight doesn’t stop there. Our family continues to fight daily. Who knows when that fight ends. It doesn’t end on the last day of an arbitrary month. It doesn’t end after a specific course of chemo. It doesn’t even end after maintenance or three and a half years of therapy, God willing we continue to progress to that point. It’s a fear that always stays with you, even as that child gets old.

Other children are born – some live, some die. It’s the way of the world and it’s life. The clinical trials that were performed before my son was born (and maybe even before I was born) produced research and results that have prolonged his life. And our participation in our clinical trial will do the same for the children that will follow him.

Childhood Cancer Awareness

15,000 new cases of childhood cancer are diagnosed each year. One in five of these children will not survive the disease. Just like the chemo that my son has to take daily, it’s a hard pill to swallow. I befriended three families this past year whose children no longer had to see a pill. To this day my heart aches for them.

September was National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and while pediatric cancer is a relatively rare disease, sadly, it is currently the leading cause of death by disease for children in the United States. Unfortunately, there’s not enough awareness.

Hyundai’s Hope On Wheels

Fortunately, companies like Hyundai, through their Hope On Wheels organization, continues spreading awareness daily and continues funding research. They’ve provided over $72.6 million in life saving grants since 1998.

On September 18th-19th, Hyundai Hope On Wheels hosted its annual Pediatric Cancer Program in Washington, D.C. Congressional leaders, Hyundai executives, dealers, Medical Advisory Committee members, pediatric cancer patients, survivors and their families, and local children’s hospitals joined together to participate in the events. In support of continued medical research and programs that improve the quality of life for children with cancer, Hope on Wheelswill donate a total of $10.25 million to forty-one children’s hospitals and institutions across the United States.

Funding

Primary funding for Hyundai Hope On Wheels comes from Hyundai Motor America and its more than 800 U.S. dealers. With the purchase of every new vehicle, Hyundai and its dealers make a small donation to Hope on Wheels. In this way, customers are joining Hope On Wheels in funding research that helps improve the lives of children battling cancer. At the same time, about 1% of total funding is raised online by donations to www.HyundaiHopeonWheels.org.

Future families thank Hyundai. My family thanks them. September may be over but we continue to fight so let’s continue to be aware.

For more information about Hyundai Hope On Wheels, please visit www.HyundaiHopeonWheels.org.