Hunter ran his race with “faith, courage and joy,” so bereaved dad runs St. Jude Memphis Marathon to honor his son

At the finish line of the 2023 St. Jude Memphis Marathon®, John Grusy dropped to his knees in celebration.

He hadn’t come in first, not that it mattered.

He hadn’t broken any records. He wasn’t trying to.

John’s run was in honor of his son, Hunter, a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® patient who died on May 31, 2023, months before the big race.

John and members of his family ran the 2022 race while Hunter was still in treatment, and they were hopeful.

In 2023, with Hunter gone, they raced in his honor.

“As I crossed the finish line last year, I was overwhelmed reflecting on how Hunter ran his cancer race so well at St. Jude, with strong faith, courage and joy, how he finished his race at full stride, how he has received his prize of eternal rest and healing and how he is now home with the Lord,” John said. “Well done my good and faithful son. I am so proud of Hunter and miss him so much.”

Before cancer, Hunter was an active athlete. He played football, baseball and soccer.

The family had just gotten back from vacation in the fall of 2021 when Hunter got sick. At the time, they thought at first it was COVID-19.

“Of course, cancer was the last thing on our minds,” John said.

However, scans revealed a mass in Hunter’s chest. After a biopsy, Hunter was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma and referred to St. Jude.

“When he was diagnosed, he took it like a champion,” his mom, Sue, said.

After a Christmas celebration with their big family (Hunter was the youngest of seven), they drove to Memphis the next day.

Throughout his cancer journey, Hunter’s faith in God never wavered.

“He didn’t say ‘This isn’t fair,’ or ‘Why would God let this happen to me,’” Sue said. “He was at peace and found great strength in his personal relationship with God.”

While progress has been made in treating many pediatric cancers, Ewing sarcoma that is progressive or has spread to other parts of the body still has a poor survival rate. St. Jude continues to research new treatments in hopes of finding one that would improve the chance of survival.  

Unfortunately, Hunter’s Ewing sarcoma did not respond well to treatment. He received multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but his disease continued to progress and spread to his liver. At the end of his treatment, Hunter was able to go home, where he passed away surrounded by those who loved him.

And his family made plans to run.

The St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend®, the largest single-day fundraiser for St. Jude, isn’t the only way the family supports the hospital. 

They’ve run in fundraising events in Illinois where they live. John has run the St. Jude Memphis to Peoria run, which since its start has raised more than $27 million for St. Jude.

On the first anniversary of Hunter’s death, they held the first annual Fearless for Hunter. It was a well-attended, 5K run, 2-mile walk, disc golf and ice cream social fundraiser in a sweet little park in their hometown.

“We probably had a little under 250 people and we raised $10,000,” Sue said. “It was just a beautiful, beautiful event.”

When St. Jude opened in 1962, there was a 20% survival rate for childhood cancer patients in the United States. Since then, childhood cancer survival rates have risen to more than 80% in the United States.

For John, their hard work could make the difference for the next middle-school boy who develops cancer. 

“I’m very hopeful that the funds being raised will someday solve a lot of these childhood cancers,” John said. “So thus, we run to make a difference.”