Former St. Jude patient gives back to community that supported his treatment
QUEEN CREEK, AZ (AZFamily) — Framing continues on a Queen Creek house that’s part of the St. Jude Dream Home giveaway, where you have a chance to win the house by reserving a ticket!
The money raised for the giveaway benefits the families at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Arizona’s Family is thrilled to be a partner on this project. We recently went to Memphis, Tenn., home to the research hospital. It’s a massive complex where about 7,000 people work.
One of the more interesting things we learned is that for some patients, St. Jude had such an impact on their lives that even after being treated back to health, they never really wanted to leave.
As a child, Blair was always getting sick. He was often in pain.
“And then it took me going to one of the local childhood hospitals where they had actually done some blood work and had figured out that I had cancer,” he said.
Cancer—a word no family ever wants to hear.
Blair didn’t have to go very far for treatment. He grew up in Memphis, not far from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and his treatments began in 2005.
“So most of what I did was outpatient. I came here once a week for chemotherapy,” he said.
Blair battled leukemia for four long years. During his toughest days, he was admitted to the hospital, which only has up to 80 beds. But St. Jude treats nearly 9,000 patients each year. That’s because their approach is different.
St. Jude believes children should have as normal a childhood as possible, so Blair was able to go home.
RELATED: Former patients credit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital with saving their lives
For kids who come from other parts of the country, they used to be put up in hotels. But today, patients stay on the nearly 80-acre campus at one of the family housing facilities. St. Jude even has classroom settings so kids can continue going to school.
All housing, food, travel and medical treatment are paid for by St. Jude.
“It didn’t so much feel like a hospital. I feel like hospitals sometimes have negative connotations attached to them like people are kind of scared to, but I wasn’t scared to come here on a weekly basis,” Blair said. “It kind of had just become a second home at that point.”
By 2010, Blair beat the cancer that plagued most of his childhood. When St. Jude opened in 1962, the survival rate for kids with cancer was 4%. Thanks to research and advancements in treatments, St. Jude says 94% of their cancer patients survive.
“It’s definitely surreal. It’s definitely a scary thought to think that if I was born in a different time, if I was born 20-30 years before I actually was and if I still diagnosed at that time that things could’ve played out a lot differently,” Blair said.
St. Jude was now a part of him.
“I just knew that in whatever capacity I could, I wanted to come back and work here,” he said.
Blair now works at the fundraising arm of St. Jude, ALSAC. He’s helping to raise money so more kids can get the help they need and be cured like he was.
“I just know even if I could I wouldn’t go back because I’m happy about the people I got to meet. I’m happy the person I’ve become. I’m happy to work with an organization that cares and gives more than any other organization out there,” Blair said. “I feel like my life has purpose. I feel like I’m able to give back in a way that I don’t know if I could any other way. I’m able to give more kids the same fighting chance that I had and just continue to improve how things are done in any way I can.”
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