Allison Bell

I believe that every person has the ability to achieve greatness and the power to use it to better the world around them.

When I first joined Endure to Cure, I hoped to be an inspiration to children battling pediatric cancer. Watching my journey from a 10:00 min/mile runner to a marathon runner would hopefully inspire them that anything is attainable. Although I know that my journey does not compare to that of a child battling cancer, I wanted to do anything I could to help.

However, I never thought it would be a child who would inspire me. In August of 2010, a 7-year-old girl my mother had in her nursery school class was diagnosed with DIPG, a devastating tumor that lodges itself between the nerves in the brainstem. The cancer was terminal, the treatments were unbearable, yet through all of this pain she still remained a beautiful and amazing individual who cherished the little things in life and stayed resilient throughout her battle with cancer until March 24, 2011. She taught everyone around her that no matter what the end may be, it’s the journey and your time spent on Earth that counts most. It is for this reason that I dedicate each of my runs to her. Although no one could change the outcome of her life, we can still change the lives of other children who are still battling the effects of cancer long after the treatment is over.

Radiation treatment is physically and emotionally abusive. It makes children self-conscious of the way they look and too sick to go to school, see friends, and enjoy being a child. Although we cannot change the treatment, we can still help children cope with the crippling side effects. With your help and the efforts of other Endure to Cure athletes, I hope to raise $100,000 over the next two years to fully fund a survivorship study at the Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital. This study will fund a clinical research psychologist’s salary for two years so that he or she can work with the survivors to help develop and implement new post-survivorship treatment methods. For more info on this study, click here.

Please join me and the other E2C athletes on our journey to raise awareness and funds to help children and adolescents battling the devastating side effects of cancer treatments. No donation is too small, thank you for your support!

Allison Bell