Today, July 26, 2012 marks exactly one year since cancer overcame 5-year-old Leah Fernandes. She passed away only 4 months after her diagnosis. The treatment she received during that period was vigorous, aggressive, and expensive. That’s when complete strangers raised thousands of dollars for Leah’s treatment, which allowed her to spend her last four months together with her family. Here is her mother, Rhiannon, talking about the experience.

Transcription:

My daughter was diagnosed with cancer last year and thousands of dollars were raised by complete strangers. And that allowed me and my husband to stay with her in the hospital. Without that we wouldn’t have had our last 4 months together as a family. I’ll never be able to thank all those people that helped us, but it means everything to us. And we’re paying it forward by setting up a charity in her name now. And all those dollars that we raised, my friends of ours, and people in our community, and other complete strangers are going to help other families that were in the same situation that we were last year.

For more information about the Leah Fernandes Charity, visit their Facebook page. Thanks so much for sharing your story, Rhiannon. 

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