On May 16th, a 17-year old Dragonfly sibling spoke at our 6th Annual Golf Classic. Here is a copy of her speech:
“My name is C and I am a junior at McAuley High School. 5 years ago when I was only 12 years old, and in the sixth grade my brother D became sick. He went to the doctor with a high fever. He was sent to Children’s Hospital. After a day and a half and many tests he was diagnosed with ALL or Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Hearing that my brother had cancer was such a scary time for my family. My brother had to stay in the hospital for 6 weeks, to begin his intensive chemotherapy treatments. My parents were always at the hospital and I visited every day. Our whole life was different. Dinners were now eaten at the hospital instead of at our kitchen table. My mom helped me with my homework in my brother’s hospital room instead of at home in our normal homework spot. It was very hard to watch my brother go through so many tests and treatments. It was through D’s diagnosis that my family got involved with the Dragonfly Foundation. Because of the Dragonfly Foundation, my family has gotten to go to many events that we wouldn’t have otherwise. Our first Dragonfly outing was just a few days after my brother was released from the hospital. We got to go to the Red’s game. We were able to go because our tickets were in the Pilot House. My brother was able to go into the air conditioning to get out of the heat. Now five years later, we have been able to attend many events because of Dragonfly. We have cheered on the Xavier Musketeers at the Crosstown Shootout sitting in the Dragonfly Suite at US Bank Arena. We have watched the Bengals, Reds, and Cyclones play. These events let my family stop the worrying for a little while and just have fun! The Dragonfly not only supports patients and families, but they also support the hospitals they partner with. They have donated laptops, IPads, video games, and toys for patients to use to be as comfortable as possible while they have a long stay at the hospital. They host events for siblings like me and give parents a much needed break by having parent’s day out activities.
My brother has now been in remission and off of treatment for almost 2 years. He is finishing his sophomore year of college and doing very well. I know his strength and desire to beat Leukemia has helped him get to where his is. I am also very sure that the Dragonfly has also played a part in this. D felt different and looked different, but was still able to do some of the things he loved. Dragonfly gave him and our whole family the opportunity to be “normal” even for only an hour or two. Our family has said on many occasions that through my brother’s illness we have found many blessings. We quickly learned that we had a great family, great friends and lived in a great community. We also learned that we had this group of care and support in our corner called the Dragonflies. Even though being faced with something as tragic as a cancer diagnosis, our family is proud to be a part of the Dragonfly Foundation. It is one of the blessings we have received through a true family tragedy. So please consider donating to this awesome organization so they can help more families like mine. Thank you.”