Even Aiden's little brother braved the shave.... super sib Evan!!
Here's the inspiration for Sunday's event... our little Jedi, Aiden--
Please read what his mother, Erica Bonner, wrote about him--
Jedi Aiden
This year we are honoring our Jedi.
In August 2013 after a few months of stumbles and headaches, Aiden was taken to have an MRI. What came next never crossed our minds.
Childhood Cancer. Brian and I were taken to a room with two doctors. They showed us the imaging and told us the news. Aiden has diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, DIPG. The world stopped and in that moment we shattered. DIPG is an extremely rare pediatric brain tumor that typically strikes between the ages of 5 and 7, infiltrates the brain stem, and has a 0% survival rate. We began searching for help, options, or just any glimmer of hope.
What we found broke us.
We discovered that since this disease, like most childhood cancers, was considered "rare," there was little or no government funding to pay for the research needed to find answers.
If you are a parent, I am sure you can imagine the pain of hearing that not only is there no cure available for your child's illness, but there is absolutely no hope that he will survive long enough to find one.
In this unjust world, research is becoming more and more dependent on foundations like St. Baldricks to make up the funding gap, or provide directly, for research into the hundreds of pediatric cancers currently claiming the lives of our children.
Aiden fought bravely for 18 months before DIPG ultimately took his life. This cancer slowly took away all of Aiden's abilities. The monster that is DIPG takes away all the basic functions while leaving the child fully aware that the body is shutting down. Aiden was cured in Heaven January 2015.
Aiden was a reflection of his Dad and the absolute best big brother to Evan. He loved his Star Wars, Cub Scouts and going to school. He make me a mother and showed us all the true strength of a little boy who was given such unfair odds.
Now we ask you all to help us continue his fight. We ask you to donate in his honor, so we can help find a cure so no more children have to endure the monster that is childhood cancer.
Erica Bonner