“We lost him just 13 days before his 17th birthday.” – Rhonda (Justin’s mum).
Justin passed away from Ewing’s sarcoma at the young age of just 16. Ewing’s sarcoma is a rare form of bone cancer that most often affects children.
Rhonda will never forget the day they learned Justin’s lung had formed a secondary cancer.
She told us, “He shed his first tears that year. It was October and he’d been diagnosed in March. We had a family hug, a cry and then he said, ‘Mum, I’m hungry. Why don’t we go and have a pie?’”
“That night he said to his girlfriend, ‘I’m not going to ask God to heal me any longer. I’m going to ask him to take me to Heaven when I go.’ And then he just carried on.”
Justin never dwelled on the unfairness of the disease that eventually took his life. But no mother should ever feel the pain of losing a child.
Rhonda says her son Justin taught her how to cope with the pain of life without him.
She remembers, “He always had a positive goal. When he became paralysed overnight in the hospital, he said, ‘I’ll be able to swim in the Paralympics now. I couldn’t have swum in the Olympics before.’”
Justin never got to swim in the Paralympics, study medicine, or grow up to become a parent himself. But through your generosity, we may be able to change the odds for another child like him. Please help Justin and Rhonda make a difference in the lives of future families.
This tax time you can help carry on Justin’s legacy. Your tax-deductible donation will help our researchers find better ways to treat rare cancers.
A gift from you today could mean a breakthrough tomorrow, please help us in to giving hope and changing lives today.
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