Burke Family

In December 2015, days after his big 7th birthday party, we took Benjamin to the pediatrician assuming he would leave with antibiotics for an ear infection. Devastatingly, that routine visit would be the start of the most heart wrenching journey for our family. After being urgently rushed to our local community hospital due to abnormal blood work, Benjamin was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Just hours after hearing the heartbreaking news his tiny body was wheeled away from us for a bone marrow aspiration and his first chemotherapy treatment. While still in a complete state of shock, our family was quickly thrown on the real-life rollercoaster that is pediatric cancer. Was this really happening? Heartbreak, anxiety, logistical and financial stress, and utter exhaustion were just some of the complicated emotions we faced in those very first days. Benjamin’s daunting treatment protocol was 3.5 years, the bulk of his entire elementary school career. His little body endured so very much during this time. Watching your child suffer the painful side effects of life-saving poison is simply unimaginable.

Figuring out how to pay the mounting medical bills, mortgage, babysitter and even the daily parking at the hospital quickly became an overwhelming weight as we grappled with Benjamin’s illness. As a newly obsessed baseball card collector, Benjamin was intent on carrying around his Anthony Rizzo cards to and from Lurie Children’s after hearing that the Chicago Cubs First Baseman frequented the oncology unit. Early on in his treatment, Benjamin’s child life-specialist contacted the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation to tell them about a little boy who loved baseball and was struggling to understand his cancer diagnosis. Just like that, a letter of encouragement from Anthony and an autographed hat were delivered to Benjamin’s hospital bed. Several months later during an especially painful hospital stay, Benjamin had the very special opportunity to meet his real-life hero, cancer survivor himself, #44. Over the course of 3.5 years of treatment, our family developed a deep and lasting love for the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation. Anthony and his family have supported us in countless ways during the darkest moments of our lives. The impact Anthony and his foundation have had on our lives is immeasurable. We are forever grateful for the financial burdens they helped alleviate through the Hope 44 fund, the moments of joy shared at Wrigley Field, and most importantly those quiet exchanges in a hospital room between two cancer warriors.