The #gogoldforleighton Photo Project for Child Cancer Awareness
For those who follow us on Facebook or Twitter you may have seen peeks at the #gogoldforleighton photo project that we've been working on. The idea was posted in a Facebook group supporting my friend, Leighton--a young teen currently battling Ewing's Sarcoma. I've known him and his family for almost nine years; we were shocked when we found out that he had cancer. All we could think: "he's too young for this."
Ewing's Sarcoma is a cancerous bone tumor that occurs most commonly during puberty, when bones are growing rapidly (Source: Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, John Hopkins Medicine).
A few more facts that I recently learned:
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Pediatric cancers are not linked to genetics or family history.
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It is the number one cause of death by disease in children.
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60% of children who survive will suffer effects later in life to include infertility, heart failure and secondary cancers.
(Source: CureSearch for Children's Cancer.)
Despite the intensive treatment (to include chemotherapy and upcoming tumor removal), Leighton has managed to keep his family's spirits up as well as his own through this challenging time. He's fortunate to have health insurance that covers the cost of his care. So in celebration of his birthday month--which coincides with Child Cancer Awareness Month--he wants his family and friends to help raise awareness for Ewing Sarcoma and childhood cancers. One of the ways was through the #gogoldforleighton photo project.
Of course the photographers in our group--both hobbyists and pros--jumped on this. Our images are posted in the private Facebook group for Leighton. Those of us with public social media profiles have also shared the images created. We'll curate the entire portfolio of images on our website's gallery at the end of the month. The purpose of this project is to inspire and raise awareness for Childhood Cancer through the month of September.
If just one more person becomes motivated to learn more about Childhood Cancer and do something to help spread the facts or find a cure then we would have given Leighton the only gift he wanted from us this year. If you would like to make a donation towards pediatric cancer treatment for other in Leighton's name you can go to his page in Birthday's for St. Jude.
