ROANOKE, Va. – A Roanoke family is continuing its mission of raising childhood cancer awareness after their 4-year-old died from the disease in 2019.
The Price family is celebrating Rowan’s birthday Tuesday, but that celebration feels very different without her.
“She would be 6 today. She would be laughing, playing, we would be going to the zoo, which we are going to do today,” said Mandy Price, Rowan’s mom. “But you never know when your world’s going to get turned upside down.”
Rowan fought a rare, aggressive form of leukemia so bravely for 11 months, and in her absence, her family is continuing the fight.
“This is by far the worst possible thing that I could ever conjure up in my head and it happened to us but we need to use her legacy and continue to shine her light on this world,” Rowan’s dad Scott Price said.
[Rowan Price’s legacy lives on, funding groundbreaking childhood cancer research]
The family’s mission is now reaching new heights.
St. Baldrick’s, the largest non-government funding source for childhood cancer research, has made the Price family national ambassadors for 2021.
“They said, ‘We were discussing ambassadors and Rowan’s name kept coming up and kept coming up,’ and everybody talked about how smiley she was and just how she was always there and present in the back of their minds for it,” said Mandy.
Now, even more people will get to hear Rowan’s story.
“Kind of channeling her spirit and trying to reach as many people as we possibly can so we can have the research done, so we can have answers that we don’t have right now,” Scott said.
Their work to improve lives is taking many different forms. Finding new ways to spread Rowan’s light, using the lessons she taught them to help others.
“She’s still shining from the other side,” Scott said.
“With a lot of love and a lot of kindness and a lot of people behind you you can do anything,” Mandy said.
Rowan’s Hero Fund through St. Baldrick’s has already raised more than $87,000 and the family isn’t stopping there.
They’re also currently collecting Legos to donate to Carilion Children’s and the Ronald McDonald House to honor Rowan’s birthday. If you’d like to donate, you can drop off Legos at Vistar Eye Center on Main St. in Salem or Melody Makers of Roanoke.
A blood drive in Rowan’s honor is happening Saturday, March 20, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at First Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Roanoke.
An Easter party honoring Rowan is happening Sunday, March 21, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Glazed Bisque-It. All studio fees will be donated to Rowan’s Hero Fund.