In early 2005, 3-year-old Corbin was a typical toddler who liked trains, playing t-ball and swimming.
But, Corbin's life changed drastically when his parents, Clint and Heather, noticed a lump on his back. A biopsy revealed Corbin had rhabdomyosarcoma, a type of soft tissue cancer.
At St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Corbin underwent chemotherapy and radiation therapy, as well as surgery to remove the tumor. Once he finished treatment, Corbin returned to St. Jude for regular checkups.
St. Jude patient Corbin with siblings Nathan and Esther
For 12 years, Corbin’s family lived free of cancer. But in early 2017, Corbin began to feel pain in his right arm.
An X-ray revealed a mass, and a biopsy confirmed Corbin had a second type of cancer called osteosarcoma, which affected his bones.
His family once again turned to St. Jude for his treatment, which included chemotherapy and a surgical procedure to save his arm.
Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since it opened more than 50 years ago.
St. Jude gives us hope and comfort. Because of St. Jude, our family has been able to flourish, even during this incredibly difficult time.
Because Corbin has developed two types of cancer, he is a part of the Cancer Predisposition Program at St. Jude. His family learned he has Li Fraumeni Syndrome, a condition that makes a person more likely to develop one or more cancers.
Corbin loved music and played the guitar. He was right-handed, so he worried when he was first diagnosed with bone cancer that he might lose his ability to play.
But Corbin spent time with a music therapist at St. Jude and began to play his guitar again. Corbin completed treatment in November 2017.
Corbin’s band played their first gig to an audience of hundreds in 2019.
Editor's note: We regret to inform you that Corbin passed away in September 2020.