Many of you know the inspiration of Team Luke, or Luke James Kelly. In January 2010, Will and Rachel welcomed their first child, Luke, into the world. Luke was diagnosed at birth with Trisomy 21, or Down Syndrome. Living in Birmingham at the time, I (Andi Gillen ) visited with them at St Vincent’s to let them know of the great work we were doing at The Bell Center where I served as Program Director. Will began working in Tuscaloosa during 2011 and they decided to move to Tuscaloosa in the Summer of 2013 when Luke was accepted at The Rise School. The Rise School provides therapy services similar to the Bell Center for children with special needs in an integrated setting alongside typical developing children. Before the move, Luke was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He began a regimen of chemotherapy and attended the Rise School when he was healthy enough to go and was in Sara Nance’s 4 yr old class. Luke relapsed in June 2014 and lost his battle to leukemia in February 2015.
We (Andi Gillen and Sara Nance) are running in memory of Luke at the New Orleans Half Marathon in March and raising money for Open Hands Overflowing Hearts (OHOH). Soon after Luke was diagnosed with leukemia, Will and Rachel met Kayla Perry Funk, founder of OHOH. She had kept Luke in the nursery at Hunter Street Baptist Church and she had just returned from the mission field because she had been diagnosed with Neuroblastoma. After many months/years of treatments from chemotherapy to radiation to bone marrow transplants, Kayla is living life to the fullest while raising money through OHOH to bring awareness and fund research for pediatric cancer.
We've created this page because we want to make a difference. We're inspired by the work of OHOH and wanted to support them by raising money in memory of Luke. Please help me help them by giving whatever you can using the 'Give Now' button. As little as $50 will fund one hour of research. The more people that know about OHOH, the greater their impact and chances that we find cures for children like Luke, so please also spread the word by sharing my page with your friends and family. Thank you in advance for your generosity, it means a lot, together we can help #EndChildhoodCancer!
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