CHARLOTTE — Imagine one day of your life, completely normal. And the next – your entire life is dedicated to your child’s survival.
That was the reality in 2014 for then-two-year-old Mabry and her family.
“She had been struggling with some ear infections and we took her to the doctor because one morning, her face kind of had swollen up,” Mabry’s mom, Jenny, told Channel 9′s Deneige Broom.
Mabry was a toddler when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of blood cancer. It was then that her local doctors realized her best chance at survival would be St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“The words ‘your child has cancer’ just hit us harder than you could imagine. I remember walking up, holding her – just wondering if this would be the last time I get to have her in my arms outside of these hospital walls,” Jenny said.
The family, which included an 11-month-old brother, had to navigate a new normal in Memphis away from home. And while Jenny remembers a lot of fear and stress, she also remembers her entire family being embraced.
“Lots of different things to do for families to kind of just make you feel at peace and have something for your kids to do, to make them just be able to be a kid,” Jenny said about St. Jude. “So, they just really know what to do to make the families be as comfortable as possible.”
Mabry is now 13 and cancer-free. She still remembers her time at St. Jude.
“I remember they do something called ‘doggy days,’ where they bring dogs in and you get to pet them and just stuff like that,” Mabry said.
Looking back to that diagnosis 11 years ago, Jenny says they would’ve given up everything to see Mabry survive. But St. Jude made sure they didn’t have to.
“When you find out that you will never receive a bill, not just for treatment – we could go to the K cafe and we would have a meal card, and so we don’t have to pay for food,” Jenny said. “We didn’t have to pay for traveling or housing. It was just such a relief to know that was one less thing that I had to worry about.”
Not only does St. Jude save lives at its hospital – they share their groundbreaking research with centers around the world.
Channel 9 is proud to partner with St. Jude for their Dream Home Giveaway – another way St. Jude raises money to make sure patients never receive a bill. This year’s dream home is being built in Marshville and is valued at $610,000.
Tickets go on sale April 2 at 6 a.m. They’re $100 and each one gets you a chance to win that home.
Be sure to join us that evening at 7 p.m., for a live special, right here on Channel 9.
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