My younger brother, Julian passed away at the age of 20 from osteosarcoma which is the most common type of bone cancer and most people diagnosed with osteosarcoma are under the age of 25. Julian fought for 10 months but the treatments for this cancer are 30 years old and cannot beat or even slow down this very aggressive form of cancer. 

I am swimming for Julian's memory and for all the children at Memorial Sloan Kettering and other hospitals across the country that fight every day for their lives.

I want to share with you some crucial information about childhood cancers, but the most significant fact is that cancer affects those you love and all of us should take steps to defeat this evil.   

Childhood cancers receive only 4 cents of every dollar of cancer research funding. Cancer is the number one disease killing children from ages six months to young adulthood. Childhood cancer occurs regularly, randomly and spares no ethnic group, socioeconomic class or geographic region.

Unlike adult cancers, the causes of most childhood cancers are still unknown and are not linked to lifestyle and environmental risk factors. The incidence of childhood cancer is highest in the first five years of life, between ages zero to four years of age.

While 83% of children diagnosed with cancer will survive, survival often comes at a price. Despite advances in research, over 75% of child survivors live with permanent side effects, including deafness, blindness, growth issues, motor impairments, cognitive difficulties, heart, kidney and fertility issues, and psychological, neurological and endocrine disorders.

Osteosarcoma is not the only high-risk childhood cancer. Others include those of the central nervous system, certain leukemias and neuroblastomas. All still have relatively low survival rates, between 7% and 31%.

No donation is too small!! Let's do this together!