Rene.Style

The tragedy in Arizona is all over the news. We have been inundated with media reporting any and all aspects of it and the heroism many exhibited during this time.  I am happy for these stories of courage, but I also feel we should remember those who are heroic each and everyday of their lives.  Pediatric cancer is the number one cause of non accidental death of children in the United States.  Each day 46 children are diagnosed with this deadly disease.  Life for these children and their families will never be the same.  One day your child isn’t feeling well and the next he or she is fighting to live.  The battle is grueling the journey is never-ending.  Treatment takes time and it is tough.  Not for the faint of heart, the procedures and medications these children endure are toxic.  Parents sit and pray day after day, month after month, year after year for their children.  The children are heroes, the parents are heroes and the medical professionals who keep them alive are heroes.  You won’t see many media reports about them.  St. Jude does some wonderful pieces on these incredible people, but there are far too few. 

I know many of these heroes personally and not a day goes by that I don’t think about them and all they do.  The Jill’s, Antonella’s, Nancy’s and Meg’s of the world who actually chose to treat and work with kids with cancer.  They could have chosen any other field, yet chose to help these kids.  They are faced with the horror of pediatric cancer, yet believe in the good they bring in helping others.  There are good days and bad, yet each day they go to work to help a family devastated by this disease.  The Matt’s and Marissa’s of the world who lost their child to cancer and now devote their lives to helping others fighting this deadly disease.  I wish our society and media would pay attention to these stories and these people and give them the recognition they so deserve.  National attention to a horrible problem and it goes unrecognized.  These people do not do it for attention.  They do it believing they make a difference and they do. In my mind  true heroism is something that people exhibit each and everyday and I want everyone else to know it!