Despite his young age and the healthy life Alex Ríos always enjoyed, the lives of this 4-year-old and his family changed forever in autumn of 2005. What initially seemed to be a simple foot pain, in a very short time, turned out to be one of the symptoms caused by a common type of childhood cancer known as acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
“We never thought our son could suffer from a terrible disease like cancer,” said Alex’s mother, Lilia Torres. “At the beginning, Alex began complaining of pain in his foot, and we thought he had hurt himself. Later, he complained of pain in his other foot. A few days later, he did not want to walk and asked us to carry him all the time”.
When the family received the diagnosis of his disease, doctors referred Alex to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital where researchers have developed protocols that have brought the survival rate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia from 4 percent to 94 percent overall.
At St. Jude, what began as agony and desperation became hope for the Ríos family. Currently, Alex is receiving chemotherapy and other medical treatments to fight his cancer. Thanks to donations made to St. Jude by people like you, Alex will be able to continue receiving treatment at no cost to his family. Please send your donation today.
Created by St Jude Patients