Jordan Hill's Story:

Jordan was a shy, quiet and considerate teenager with a beautiful smile and sweet disposition.  She was funny, silly, smart and a great friend.  She loved her family, holidays, cheerleading, vacations, friends, school, and had the world in front of her.  She was a normal teenage girl of 13, who loved life and gave the best bear hugs!  Jordan had decided when she was around 8 years old that she wanted to major in education when she went to college so that she could be an elementary school teacher.  What an amazing teacher she would have been, if only childhood cancer had not become our worst nightmare, the kind that no one thinks will every affect their lives, let alone the lives of their children.

In February of 2004, while Jordan was in the 8th grade, she experienced severe leg pains and was admitted to Egleston Children’s Hospital in Atlanta.  It took a week of tests after tests before Jordan was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).  Her diagnosis was even more difficult because she was also considered hypodiploid, a very rare form of leukemia with a high relapse rate and a low promise of survival.  Having a hypodiploid diagnosis lowers the survival rate of ALL from about 80% to around 20% or less, and the treatment protocol for any hypodiploid patient is brutal.  Generally, most children are immediate candidates for a bone marrow transplant, but because no one in Jordan’s immediate family was a close enough match for a transplant, it was decided that she would have to endure the aggressive chemotherapy protocol for hypodiploid patients.  

Jordan never gave up hope that she would triumph over her leukemia.  She endured 20 months of an aggressive chemotherapy and radiation treatment program, but in the end, even that didn’t prove enough to overcome this horrifying childhood disease.  While still on treatment, Jordan relapsed on November 1, 2005, and was going to have to undergo a bone marrow transplant to save her life.  Sadly, Jordan lost her battle with leukemia and passed away very suddenly and quickly on November 14th, 2005, from complications of her destructive chemo treatment program.  Her body was worn out and had been abused by the very thing that was attempting to save her life.  She was 15 years old.

Jordan always had a smile, and no matter how awful she felt from the unrelenting side effects of her chemotherapy, she would never let anyone see the true side of her cancer.  She only wanted to be a normal teenager and be able to attend school with her friends.  She endured her illness and treatments with amazing grace and bravery.  Her family and friends were truly blessed to have such a hero and an inspiration in our lives and she will always be with us in our hearts and memories.  Jordan is loved beyond measure and is missed every day.  We truly hope that Jordan’s story and her smile will touch many hearts and encourage everyone to help support CURE during Cure Childhood Cancer month. 
 

About September & CURE'S Kids Conquer Cancer One Day at a Time:
September is recognized as National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. This September, CURE Childhood Cancer has committed to raising awareness and raising money to help find a cure for childhood cancer in our lifetime and put an end to this terrible disease through a special program CURE's Kids Conquer Cancer One Day at a Time!

Please help us in our goal of raising $30,000 in the month of September while honoring special CURE kids each day of the month who have been effected by childhood cancer.

For more information, please click here.


About CURE Childhood Cancer:
Founded in 1975, CURE Childhood Cancer is dedicated to conquering childhood cancer through research, education and support of patients and their families. Since its establishment as a grass-roots organization, CURE has focused its efforts on improving the care, quality of life, and survival rate of children with cancer.

The founders, parents and a dedicated pediatric oncologist, joined forces to support laboratory research that would translate into immediate care for children with cancer.

Since that time, CURE has raised millions of dollars to fund cutting edge research at the Aflac Cancer Center Blood Disorders Service at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University School of Medicine.

Through innovative programming, CURE also provides support for stricken families, providing them comfort and support during their time of devastating need.

Visit us online at www.curechildhoodcancer.org for more information.

Also, we wanted to give a special thanks to all of our offline donors.  We appreciate your support!

Lori Holcombe = $20.00
Sylvia Gross/SLG LLC = $50.00
GMAC Atlanta Employees for a CURE = $2,668
David and Joy Bornheimer = $50.00
Hill Foley Rossi & Associates LLC = $500.00
Thomas, Michael and Jennie Fleming = $50.00
GMAC = $2,668

*The total for all offline donations is reflected in the offline donation box.