We are getting ready to host our second annual Greenville Hospital System Children’s Hospital Radiothon and this story is very close to our hearts.  Last year when we were interviewing some of the parents who had children in the hospital, we met Bob Gleason.  Bob was there with his wife Angie and their daughter Katie.  Rachael was there too – she was in the Children’s Hospital and Bob was excited because Rachael was going to be taken off the ventilator after surgery to remove a stage 3 neuroblastoma, a type of cancerous tumor.  Rachael had originally been diagnosed in February of 2008 and had been treated, but a new tumor had come back.  After we interviewed Bob about the Children’s hospital, we went up to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and met Rachael.  I took one look at her and knew that I wasn’t going to be able to say anything.  All I could do was just hug Bob.

Sadly, Rachael passed away on November 19, 2008.

Bob and Angie have gone on to create Rachael’s Run to commemorate her life and to raise funds and awareness for families fighting childhood cancer.

You can learn more about Rachael, Bob, Angie and Katie at the website: http://www.rachaelsrun.org/