In March 2015, Leonay developed a fever that wouldn’t go away. Her doctor in Jamaica, where her family lives, prescribed medicine, but it had little effect. When the fever persisted, Leonay’s mother, Virginia, insisted the doctor look deeper. Tests soon revealed Leonay suffered from neuroblastoma. Soon after, Leonay and her mother arrived at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Leonay is a silly, happy girl who loves to dance, knows all the songs from Frozen and likes to pick out her outfits each morning.
At St. Jude, Leonay’s treatment included chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy and an antibody treatment. Leonay thinks her doctor is a giant teddy bear and she loves her nurses. Leonay recently completed treatment and is back home in Jamaica. She visits St. Jude every three months for checkups.
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 is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90%, and we won’t stop until no child dies from cancer.
"St. Jude has been our family. They make everything better."
Leonay's mom, Virginia
Help our families focus on their sick child, not medical bills.
When you donate monthly, your gift means families, like Leonay's, never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.
Meet more patients
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Holiday Video: Thank you for your support
Thank you for your support for the kids of St. Jude in 2024.
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Meet Charlie
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Meet Brayden
Brayden received chemotherapy as well as proton therapy for medulloblastoma at the first proton therapy center in the world dedicated solely to children.
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Meet patient Natalie
Natalie seemed like a healthy toddler. But one day, she stopped using her left arm. She had Stage IV neuroblastoma and was referred to St. Jude for treatment.
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Meet Misheel
Misheel was diagnosed with brain cancer and was referred to St. Jude, where she has received treatment, which included chemotherapy and radiation therapy. She has refused to let her illness keep her from spreading joy to others.
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Meet Gideon
After Gideon was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma, he was referred to St. Jude for immediate treatment.
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Meet Camila
Camila was diagnosed three days before her 3rd birthday with a solid cancerous tumor of the kidney. Read her story.
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Meet Alejandro
Ines and Alejandro think of their son Alejandro every day. Their active and curious boy would have been near adulthood by now. They honor his memory through their commitment to St. Jude. Read more here.
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Meet Phoenix
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Meet Avery
Avery was diagnosed with sickle cell disease soon after birth and she received a bone marrow transplant at St. Jude in early 2023. Her donor was one of her older sisters.
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Meet Eli
At just 6 years old, Eli was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. His family was referred to St. Jude for his treatment and Eli underwent surgery to remove the tumor and a portion of his tibia.
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Meet Joshua
St. Jude patient Joshua recently took to the court to help end childhood cancer by fundraising for St. Jude.
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Meet Lucas: Patient
Lucas, who is from Chile, was 3-years old when he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma and was referred to St. Jude.
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Meet Avyan
Avyan carries himself with confidence and strength beyond his years. His manner has given fortitude to his family as they walk through an unimaginable reality.
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Meet Alana
Alana didn't let a cancer diagnosis get in the way of her dreams for the future. Neither did St. Jude.