Our son Ryker is 4 years old. He was diagnosed with Pre B cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia; VHR.

We didn’t create a social media page because we didn't want this to define him. I'm not sure what all to say about this experience; he is our first born so we weren't sure what he missed out on or gained. Ryker's pediatrician ran a lot of tests for several months. We had no idea that the results would come back as cancer.

All the stress and hassle from this cancer has put me out of work. I'm a night time bartender and I had to leave work for a long time. We are always having to make emergency visits to the emergency room. It's hard having his siblings being away in case of sickness and not being able to let them all play.

Ryker will finish chemotherapy treatments in December of this year (2022). It's ruined his childhood. He hasn’t gotten to be a child and play since all of this started. Our insurance benefits and gofundme’s held up and helped out on our bills. We lost a lot of friends and family support throughout all of this. I didn't want to ask for more help. I felt as if we were already a burden.

I'm very passionate about finding a cure to make sure no other child has to suffer another day. To me, the worst part of all this is the grief of losing what you thought life should have been and watching your child suffer. It's humane but not fair. We need more funding for a cure.

Federal funding for childhood cancer research is only 4%. Our children are the future and they deserve more. This petition is pushing the government to increase federal funding for childhood cancer research from 4% to 8%. All of us parents that have fought and that are still fighting are lobbying together against this to ensure these children have better options for treatment and a cure. Over 15,700 children alone this year will be diagnosed with cancer; over 1,750 of these children will die, losing their battle against cancer because they don’t have enough opportunities for safer and more effective treatments.

Please SIGN and SHARE this petition all over the internet for everyone to see and join us. We have to advocate for these children; they cannot stand alone.

BAY CITY, MICHIGAN