ROANOKE, Va. – A Roanoke family has turned their grief into action.
It’s a vow the Price family made when 4-year-old Rowan died last September after battling a rare, aggressive form of cancer.
It’s been ten months since the Price family lost their beloved Rowan, and the pain is still profound.
“Why us? Why our child? Everybody believes that their child is extremely special. And of course, we believed that Rowan was beyond special,” said Mandy Price, Rowan’s mother.
Her cancer diagnosis came as a shock to the family back in Oct. 2018.
They were also shocked to learn about the lack of funding for childhood cancer. For Rowan and her family, that translated into drugs that were hard to find and treatment that didn’t exist.
“One in five children diagnosed with cancer will die, and unfortunately, our Rowan was part of that statistic,” Price said.
When she died in September, they decided to do their part to change that statistic by turning their pain into progress.
“She was a fighter and so we are continuing her fight,” Price said.
They teamed up with St. Baldrick’s, the largest non-government source of funding for childhood cancer research, to set up the RowOn 4 a Cure Hero Fund.
The community that’s proven itself “Rowan Strong” from the beginning stepped up once again, raising more than $55,000. That’s enough to almost completely cover a grant to fund research that’s specific to the very form of cancer Rowan battled bravely for 11 months.
“It’s really touching just to see the impact that Rowan made on everybody. I mean, in four short years, she’s made an impact that most will not make in a lifetime,” Price said.
The Price family is making sure Rowan’s legacy lives on by fighting for a future their daughter never got to see.
“If we can save one child and one family from the heartache we’ve experienced, then we’ve made a difference,” Price said.
The Price family’s work is far from over.
Click here for more information about the RowOn 4 a Cure Hero Fund.
Click here to learn more about Race 4 Rowan: Smiles4Miles happening in Sept. to raise money for St. Baldrick’s.