ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Three St. Johns County families of children battling cancer are finding hope in their backyard. The Little Social, a St. Augustine cafe and kids’ play space, is lending a helping hand through a set of fundraisers this month.
The families tell Action News Jax it’s giving them light in the darkest moment of their lives.
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“When we first heard about his diagnosis, I didn’t sleep at all that first night,” says Katie Anderson, mom of 23-month-old Griffin.
Griffin had his arm amputated in Tampa a little more than a week ago. Not long before, doctors had found a tumor spreading throughout his left arm. It was found after he’d fallen off his bed at home and had to be rushed to the emergency room.
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“We had no idea that was what we were going to be told when we took him,” said Anderson. “It was absolutely gut-wrenching.”
Angela McMillan, mother of 19-month-old Atlas, is more than familiar with the feeling. She got emotional when telling Action News Jax’s Finn Carlin about the moments after learning her son had cancer.
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“It definitely changes a lot,” McMillan said. “There’s all of these doctors going in and out of the room and you don’t know if your child is going to live through it because you don’t know how bad it is.”
The McMillan family found out about Atlas’ cancer two days after moving to St. Johns County. Doctors found a tumor spreading into his bones. He was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare cancer that the Mayo Clinic says is most commonly found in young kids.
The McMillans say Atlas was diagnosed after what the family thought was simply a stubborn fever.
“One minute, your kid’s just sick, and the next minute it’s cancer,” said McMillan.
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The Andersons say some of their weeks in the hospital have cost upwards of $70,000. For the McMillans, one of their stays cost at least $78,000.
New research published earlier this year says the average cost of child cancer treatment in the U.S. is more than $127,000.
The family of Lucy Sembach, a 9-year-old in St. Augustine also diagnosed with cancer, has been struggling, too. But the families found hope after Danielle Rebuck, owner of the Little Social, decided to help.
“None of these families should do this alone,” Rebuck said. “The power lies in us rallying together as a community.”
The Little Social is putting on fundraisers for each of the families this month. Atlas’ fundraiser was held today, and Lucy’s is being held on September 28th. Griffin’s fundraising day was last week. On the days of the fundraisers, the Little Social says 30% of its proceeds will go toward the families of each of the children.
To find out more about how you can donate or help the families, you can contact the Little Social at the link here.
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