JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Families will be supporting their loved ones and raising money for cancer research this weekend at the Tri-Cities St. Jude Walk/Run event in honor of childhood cancer awareness month.
There will also be those like the Hicks family who will be walking in remembrance of their loved one who lost their battle with cancer.
Katie Hicks told News Channel 11 her son, Cash, was diagnosed in 2016 with stage four high-risk neuroblastoma at the age of two. “He was diagnosed at Niswonger Children’s Hospital and flown to St Jude within 24 hours.”
That started a six-year battle with cancer that included a blood transfusion and two rounds of chemotherapy. Cash didn’t survive cancer, but St. Jude never stopped providing for the Hicks family.
“It’s been almost four months since Cash passed away and they still reach out to me on a regular basis. They check on our family, they assisted with all of the funeral preparations and just made sure we had the resources we needed, the counselors, the funds, I mean, everything that a family needs at that time, they make sure that it happens.”
Katie no longer has her son, but she has extra years of memories that she may not have had without the help of St. Jude.
“It’s six years that we don’t know if we would have had with him if it wasn’t for St. Jude because of how quickly they acted. And that’s pretty priceless.”
Registration is open now for the Tri-Cities St. Jude Walk/Run. The race is at 9 a.m. Saturday at King Commons in Johnson City with food trucks and family entertainment.
