Last Thursday through Sunday I took a trip to Memphis for the “Country Cares St. Jude Seminar” where I was able to see the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital up close and hear from many of the families who have had a child stricken with cancer. Hearing those words “your child has cancer” have to feel like a sledgehammer to the head. The families I heard from offered stories of hope in the face the worst news one can receive. One such story was that of Cleveland Browns Offensive Tackle Shon Coleman. Shon signed a letter of intent to play college football at Auburn but before his senior year of high school was over he was diagnosed with Leukemia. The protocol for treatment is 2.5-3 years. Luckily Auburn held Shon’s scholarship open for him and once he was finished with his treatment he was able to play for Auburn. His experience at St. Jude was so positive that he decide to hold his draft party in 2016 at St. Jude instead of going to the NFL draft in Chicago where he had been invited. These are the kinds of heartwarming stories I heard. There were also stories of sadness and lost souls who fought the good fight but the uplifting part of even those stories are the work St. Jude does to help those families heal and how they stay a part of the St. Jude family and help raise funds to keep the legacy of their loved ones and the fight against childhood cancer alive.

Thankfully there is a hospital like St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital that attacks childhood cancer with every tool known to man giving hope to all who go there AND cancer patients the world over since every medical breakthrough discovered and developed at St. Jude is shared for free with doctors and medical institutions everywhere. If you or someone you know has been treated for cancer, even just here in California, chances are that St. Jude had a hand in developing the treatment or procedure that saved your life.

Part of our tour was through the hallway art gallery where artistic works by current and former patients express their personal battle with cancer. I don’t think I’ve ever felt the strength of the human spirit quite like I have at St. Jude. Below I have shared a few of the photos I took on my trip.

Please join us on February 15th and 16th here on Kat Country for our annual Kat Country Cares for Kids St. Jude Radiothon and help us wipe the scourge of childhood cancer off the earth and make it a bad memory.

Visitors and patients alike rub the nose of the bronze bust of St. Jude founder Danny Thomas for good luck. Thomas was the star of 50’s and 60’s sitcom “Make Room For Daddy” and the story goes that before he hit it big that Danny prayed to St. Jude Thaddeus “The Patron Saint Of Lost Causes” for help with his career and that if he ever hit it big that he’d erect a shrine to St. Jude. He obviously erected more than just a shrine but a beacon of hope the world over.

These flags represent all the different countries the doctors and researchers who come to St. Jude hail from.

This is the wall where St. Jude celebrates some of the bigger donors who’ve contributed to the cause and you can see Elvis Presley, who lived in Memphis, was a supporter