Jack Purssord
Jack was diagnosed with an optic pathway glioma when he was 4 months old. Up until the day we found out, Jack was a vibrant, smiling and energetic baby. He was perfect. On October 19th, 2009 his life, and ours, was flipped upside down. Throughout the three years of chemo treatments, surgeries, doctors visits, feeding tubes, ICU experiences, MRI’s, tests, blood draws and life or death decisions, the one consistent was Jack's smile. For sure he had bad days, but every day he would always find a smile.
Over three short years, Jack had 12 brain surgeries one of which left him partially paralyzed on his left side. He was never able to stand or walk!
As parents, we drew so much strength, comfort, courage and resilience from his smile. It helped us to rationalize the heartbreaking situation our family was in. Jack was very limited with his speech, but that smile and those eyes would say it all. We love you Bubba.
We hope those reading this story will draw inspiration to make a commitment to help us fight & end pediatric brain cancer. Become part of our community and make a difference.
The bottom line is that we must find a cure for the #1 pediatric brain cancer. It’s our responsibility to protect their smiles.