It was over five years ago that Jack Barausky was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He had just started kindergarten and was five years old. Jack endured three and a half years of countless tests, treatments and surgeries. Today, we are proud to celebrate Jack’s incredible recovery and happy to announce that he is cancer free. His family credits his recovery to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for funding cutting edge research; over $1 billion since being founded in 1949. Jack is now 11 years old and can be found playing sports with friends on the weekends. He has six siblings and attends St. Katharine’s of Sienna in Wayne, PA.

Sophie was born on December 27, 2007.  In February of 2008, Sophie was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Leading up to Sophie’s diagnosis, her parents noticed a skin lesion on her torso which was biopsied and led to her diagnosis.  Life was dramatically altered for her compared to other children experiencing their “firsts”.  Many of Sophie’s life “firsts” occurred in the hospital.   After Sophie’s diagnosis, every follow up visit or cold was cause for concern. 

Sophie lives with her Mother, Father and Brother.  She is a piano player, loves arts and crafts.  Sophie’s favorite movie is Disney’s Frozen.  Her favorite reading material is Arthur & the DW series of books.  If you find her watching TV, it is most likely Austin and Ally and her favorite sport is swimming.  Sophie also loves to travel to new places, playing with her friends and dolls. 

Sophie’s hero is Dr. L. Charles Bailey and the Nurses on the 3rd South at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. 

When Sophie grows up, she wants to be a doctor and a veterinarian because she likes taking care of her friends and LOVES animals. 

Duncan is a ninth grader at William Penn Charter School. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 2012, moving to Philadelphia from Seattle in the summer of 2014. Duncan's dream was to bring the Big Climb, an LLS fundraising and stair climbing event, to Philadelphia. His dream has been realized and the Big Climb will take place in Philly in 2016. Duncan has learned a lot from his experience with cancer. In many ways, he is a wiser person for it, but he knows that cancer is a terrible diease that needs to be wiped out. He and his family hope you will join them to beat cancer!