Meet Brakdon! He is seven years old and battling Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Last August, Brakdon took longer to recover from Covid than the rest of his family, so his parents took him to the emergency room. The trip resulted in a cancer diagnosis, an emergency blood transfusion, a 3-week quarantine in the hospital, steroids, and chemotherapy. 

As treatments proceeded, one of the phases included a long series of high methotrexate doses in his spinal fluid. On about the 5th dose in the intense phase, after his lumbar puncture surgery, Brakdon, unfortunately, experienced methotrexate toxicity, causing stroke-like symptoms, paralysis on the left side of his body, uncontrollable large-muscle spasms, seizures, and a PICU stay. Only 4% of leukemia children experience such a setback.

Brakdon soon recovered after many months of OT, PT, and speech therapy and continued with his altered treatments. Unfortunately, Brakdon experienced methotrexate toxicity again, which affected his internal organs, causing a blood infection.

Brakdon is fun, energetic, silly, and a bit of a prankster. He likes playing with Legos, all sports, and Beyblades with his friends. 

Brakdon was recently in our 2022 St. Petersburg Fashion Funds the Cure event and walked the runway during his Dream Walk as a Baseball Player!