Some of you may recall that I spent six weeks in Washington, D.C. last summer as an intern with Kids v. Cancer. Remember all my terribly awkward Facebook Live videos? Well, I for one have tried strenuously to forget them, so maybe we should refresh our memories! I went to D.C. as a pediatric cancer advocate. Our little group of interns spent nearly every day on Capitol Hill lobbying for the RACE for Children Act. This bill stated that, if a company develops a drug for an adult cancer with a specific genetic target, they also have to test it in any pediatric cancer with that same genetic target. After a full summer of meetings, advocacy, and outreach, the RACE for Children Act finally passed and was signed into law in August 2017! I remember completely breaking down in tears when I heard the news. I felt in the most profound way that we were actually one step closer to making Michael’s dream come true—one step closer to no child ever having to go through what he did.
That little taste of being part of something bigger than myself propelled me through my sophomore year of college. With some notable stops along the way, including shaving my head (again) and helping my school’s dance marathon raise a record-breaking half million dollars, I somehow found myself boarding a flight near the end of May to Santiago, Chile, where I’d be studying abroad for seven weeks. I’d been accepted into a health studies program, in which I’d learn about the Chilean healthcare system, shadow medical professionals in the nation’s largest public hospital, and study Spanish for healthcare practitioners. Anyone who knows me knows that this opportunity was practically made for me!
Although this program was not focused on pediatric oncology, I sure was. When our unit on the pediatric health situation in Chile came around, my ears perked up when I heard that cancer was the leading cause of disease-related death in children. If this sounds familiar, that’s because the exact same situation exists in the United States. Later in the program, I had the chance to talk with one of the most respected pediatric oncologists in Chile, Dra. Ana Becker. She explained Chile’s pediatric cancer situation to me in great depth, but one statistic really struck me: 82% of children with cancer receive therapy according to national protocols modeled after those of countries like Germany, France, and the USA. Even though Chile has the most developed healthcare system in Latin America, they still lack the resources to really conduct research and run clinical trials. They depend on the scientific advancements of more developed countries to save their kids’ lives.
I’m not sure how I never realized this before, but once I did, my motivation to raise money and spread awareness for pediatric cancer research was strengthened exponentially. As if saving our own nation’s children wasn’t reason enough, we have the opportunity here to make an international impact.
When Michael said he didn’t want any child to go through what he did, I know he really meant ANY child, ANYwhere, ANYtime.
If we are making an honest effort to make his dream come true, we must maintain the global sentiment that he undoubtedly intended. I always knew that Michael Gustafson would change the world…
