CLEVELAND — On this World Cancer Day, your generosity is going to help families fighting childhood cancer.
You might remember our reports from 5 On Your Side Investigator Jonathan Walsh, which included his recent book Is My Child Next? The Alexa Brown Story. It details children and their families going through a medical mystery in our area more than a decade ago. Thirty-five young people ended up being a part of The Eastern Sandusky Childhood Cancer Cluster.
Last night, Walsh hosted a special Zoom event that invited families involved with the childhood cancer cases, fans of the book and those directly dedicated to the project.
"We had such a great conversation about not only pediatric cancer and what to do about it," said Walsh "but there was incredible insight into just what the families went through and still carry with them today. There are definitely lessons in their stories for all of us."
Because of the generous support of people in the News 5 audience and across the country, the author's first round of profits is now going to the nonprofit Alexa's Butterflies of Hope, which helps current families going through life-changing medical problems.
"I truly can't thank people enough for buying the book, becoming more knowledgeable about pediatric cancer and saying to our country's leaders 'More needs to be done!'" said Walsh. "It's because of all of you that, just in our first round of many more checks to come, we are able to donate $5,000 to the cause."
Alexa Brown is the focus of the book, and Warren and Wendy Brown are her parents.
"Wow! That is pretty cool," said Warren during the check presentation. Wendy informed the group that about 45 families have benefited from the organization since it was started with $100,000 going to their fight.
"We are just getting started," said Walsh. "We have many more plans with this project that will help take the cause to new heights! So, stay tuned and help spread the word about protecting our kids."
If you're interested in supporting the cause, Is My Child Next? The Alexa Brown Story can be purchased through your local bookstore or wherever books are sold online. Again, all of the author's profits go directly to charity.
