About This Fundraiser

After Jacob was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), our family received an outpouring of support.  So many people have reached out to us to provide meals, prayers, gift cards, and supplies.  Still, we have people constantly asking us how they can assist in Gerard’s recovery.

Even with excellent insurance, we will “max out” our out-of-pocket medical expenses each year until his end-of-treatment date (June 19, 2019).  That adds up to $24,000 in out-of-pocket medical expenses over the next three years.  We are so humbled that so many people have offered to help support us with donations.  This WonderWe fundraiser gives those folks a platform to help assist in Jacob’s recovery.

Jacob’s Story

On March 30, 2016, Jacob fell down a few inches and hit his shin.  Because he had always been an active and adventurous 15-month-old, Cally and I didn’t think much of it.  However, the next morning, he wasn’t walking well.  We made an appointment and took him to get x-rays at our pediatrician’s office. The x-rays didn’t reveal anything wrong with his leg, so we assumed it would heal itself in the next few days.  However, after almost two weeks, he was still having trouble walking and putting weight on his leg.  We got a few x-rays at our doctor’s office which again came back clean; we were referred to Children’s Hospital for more specialized Orthopedic care.  After more x-rays, the orthopedic specialists could not find anything wrong with him, so they sent us to take a blood sample. The initial blood sample showed Jacob’s blood platelet count was extremely low. Concerned, the Hematology clinic did a blood smear that found suspected Leukemia cells in his blood.