Matthew's Story

Please allow me to introduce you to Matthew Fackler, pictured below with his girlfriend:



Today, Matthew is a happy, healthy 21 year old who attends college, works, and spends time with his girlfriend, but things haven't always been so easy for him.

Matthew was first diagnosed with Leukemia in November 2000 at the age of 8. He underwent three years of chemotherapy and was in remission from January 2004 until December 2004, at which time his cancer returned. He underwent two and a half more years of chemotherapy and was in remission from July 2007 to October 2007, when he relapsed again. In January 2008, Matthew received a life saving bone marrow transplant, and he has been cancer free for 5 years. Without the hard work of LLS to find treatments and cures for blood cancers and the fundraising efforts of the members of TNT to fund that research, Matthew’s story might have had a different ending.

It was Matthew's story that inspired me to sign up for my first Team in Training event years ago and it is Matthew who has has once again inspired me to return to TNT for another season of running and fundraising.  No one should have to go through the things that Matthew has endured, especially a child.   It would be so incredible if someday a cure was found so no one would ever have to suffer from a blood cancer again.  With your help, we can make that happen!

If you want to read more about Matthew's story, you can do so here.