Why Jake is Giving Back

I was diagnosed with neuroblastoma at age 2, which is a cancerous tumor that develops in your nerve tissue and affects your brain and nervous system. I was doubted from the beginning when the doctor told my family and I that I would never walk and talk and there was going to be a chance of me dying from the cancer.

It was a very tough time for my family and I, but I am extremely thankful to have all the support that I had. My parents spent that entire process with me. They spent countless hours, sleepless nights, all of their effort, and did tons of research to help me recover from the cancerous tumor. My grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins did everything they possibly could to make it a little easier for my parents and to make it easier for me to overcome the cancer as well. Not only did I have support from my friends but I had support from random people who wanted to make a difference. The amount of support that I received was wonderful and overwhelming. Through all the support that I received, I became cancer free and I took my first step and said my first words. It was a blessing to receive all the support and I feel like it is my duty to give back to those kids who are going through what I went through. My goal and my mission is to cure pediatric cancer. I treat each and every kid going through cancer as one of my own. I want to do everything in my power to make those kids healthy again. My mentors and baseball coaches constantly tell me to take life 1 day at a time and to play baseball 1 pitch at a time. I applied this motto to my foundation and I try to cure cancer one child at a time. It will be a lot easier to cure cancer all together if I could cure cancer one child at a time.