R.O.C.K. Ride - Little Bios

Hannah

Our daughter Hannah was diagnosed with AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia), a very rare and aggressive form of leukemia, on June 28th, 2002. She was only 11 months old. At the time of diagnosis, our happy little baby had a terrible disease that had progressed to a point where she was in immediate danger. Our lives changed drastically that day.

Hannah was admitted to the Children's Hospital of Western Ontario. She endured many rounds of chemotherapy over the next 10 months. She learned to walk and talk while at the hospital. Hannah remained a very happy baby throughout her treatment, and made great friends with the hospital staff and patients she met. On April 12, 2003, she finished her treatment protocol, and was considered in remission from her disease.

Sadly, Hannah relapsed on July 17th, 2003, the day before her second birthday. She started aggressive chemotherapy again, and suffered through many complications before being released from the hospital in early September.

Hannah's best hope for recovery was to have a bone marrow transplant. After waiting for four months, we received the wonderful news that they found an unrelated bone marrow donor that was a perfect match for Hannah.

On January 21, 2004, Hannah got her second chance after a successful bone marrow transplant. Recovering from a transplant such as this can take a long time, and there are huge risks of complications. Hannah was extremely brave and was hospitalized for almost 14 months before she gained her angel spirit on February 3, 2005 at the age of 3½ years. We thank our anonymous donor for giving us an extra year to spend with our daughter!

Our hearts break whenever we hear of a child being diagnosed with cancer, or when we lose another friend from the hospital. Our hope is that more research in pediatric oncology will find better ways to prevent, detect and treat this terrible disease. Thank you for caring enough to read Hannah's story.

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