Chandler beat mind most cancers and ran a half marathon shortly after, because of St. Jude. (St. Jude)
DENVER (KDVR) — The 2024 St. Jude Dream House Giveaway will begin Thursday. With every $100 ticket bought, viewers like you might be serving to to boost $2.5 million in direction of St. Jude’s mission this yr.
FOX31’s Nicole Fierro took a visit to a St. Jude campus in Tennessee to be taught in regards to the impacts of those donations On St. Jude’s campus, hope isn’t solely a message crafted in art work.
“Most youngsters you see working round having enjoyable within the hospital, they don’t even essentially consider it as a hospital,” mentioned Chandler, a affected person.
Chandler’s journey with St. Jude began as a youngster.
“I used to be a freshman in highschool, and every part was going good,” Chandler mentioned. “I used to be in cross nation getting my 5K time down.”
Midway by his freshman yr, Chandler began having neck ache, again ache and complications. Then, he developed double imaginative and prescient.
“Someday I used to be in health club class, and we have been taking part in basketball and I used to be seeing two of every part,” Chandler mentioned. “So, at one level, I’ve 4 palms and two balls are coming at me and my actual palms catch the imaginary ball, my faux palms catch the actual ball and the actual ball hits my face.”
After a lot of totally different docs couldn’t determine what was flawed, a neurologist regarded deeper into his eye points.
“He really instructed my mother and father the phrases ’it’s not nothing,’” Chandler mentioned. “And that evening I used to be within the ICU, and within the following couple of weeks I had two mind surgical procedures carried out.”
The reason for Chandler’s signs was a mind most cancers known as medulloblastoma.
“On the authentic hospital in Virginia the place I used to be initially recognized, I feel they gave me like 60% or 70% survival,” Chandler mentioned. “We have been simply attempting to determine the place to go from there and we finally settled on, after all, St. Jude, as a result of that’s one of the best care. My physician right here was Dr. Gajjar who wrote the protocol for medulloblastoma.”
Chandler instructed FOX31 he went by 30 rounds of radiation over a few month and direct remedy for a yr with seven rounds of chemotherapy.
Midway by remedy, the observe athlete determined to make a daring choice throughout a St. Jude marathon press convention.
“I mentioned, what, subsequent yr I’m going to run the half marathon,” Chandler mentioned. “Me, who can barely stroll, barely rise up, misplaced each muscle in my physique, seems like a skeleton.”
Chandler completed remedy simply in time to satisfy that promise, beating most cancers and conquering a half-marathon with the power of St. Jude behind him.
“Primarily, after I lastly acquired out and it healed up, I had three months to learn to run once more and practice for a half marathon,” Chandler mentioned. “And if I’m not forgetting, I feel I did it in about two hours, 40 minutes. This place actually issues.”
Tickets for the dream house will go on sale on Thursday, July 11. You may buy them on KDVR/KWGN’s web site.
