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May 19, 2007

By Neil | May 19, 2007

My dear friend John London and his wife Catherine lost their daughter today. Penelope was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in October, 2003 and pioneered many treatments. Her parents funded the University of Vermont nifurtimox trial which will prove to have the best response rate for relapsed neuroblastoma kids when all is said-and-done. John did more to help other kids than any other parent and worked tirelessly to get more therapies into the clinic. His hero, though was his daughter. She loved watching the Food channel on cable, adored her little brother Oliver and her older sister Isabelle, and would play endlessly with her mom & dad. I had the good fortune to meet Penelope twice. The first time, at CHOP, I scared her because I talk loud and move fast and so when I would call and talk to John, he would often turn to Penelope and say he’s talking to his friend Neil – “you remember him Penelope, the loud guy!” We played Play-doh together and dressed some dolls and hung out for a bit. Her dad and I wore baseball caps with a big P on them – he had shaved his head and it scared her so we bought some hats from the U of Pennslyvania bookstore and called them our Penelope hats. I have my Penelope hat on today – I wear it alot.

Two weeks ago, we lost Bryan Tressler. I was friends with his father also. He has handled his son’s death with a grace that I think we all wish we had. Two very, very loving families have huge holes in their hearts. Death from neuroblastoma is horrifically painful. I mention this because we have to find a cure and if there is a more noble cause than saving kids from this horror, someone better show it to me quick. If you want to help, please visit the link below

http://vermontcancer.org/index.php?page=penelope-and-sam

I can guarantee that it will spawn more innovative treatments than any other program in the United States. You can read about Bryan at www.caringbridge.org/ny/bryan. You can read about Penelope at www.caringbridge.org/ny/penelope

 

Neil

 

Topics: Progress Reports | Comments Off on May 19, 2007

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