Scott Leone, father to Isabella
In the spring of 2010, my daughter Isabella wasn’t herself. She was pale, she wasn’t active, and wasn’t eating much. We originally thought she was just teething because she was a little over one and half years old.
On April 29th, we took her to the doctor, who advised us to take her to Sick Kids Hospital early the following morning. It was that day, on April 30th, that she was diagnosed with leukemia. On May 3rd we were told it was ALL (Acute lymphoblastic leukemia), which is a fast-growing cancer of a type of white blood cells called lymphocytes that crowds out bone marrow, preventing it from making the normal red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets that the body needs.
As a parent it is very difficult to see her suffer and not know whether she are going to come out of this. However, we were able to find support from the great doctors, nurses, the Light The Night team, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada.
Isabella`s struggles continued for almost two and half years. Today, we are proud to say that at this point in time she is in remission and a very active and normal girl who recently became a teenager on June 24th!
Isabella was chosen as the Light The Night Honoured Hero in 2012, and we have taken part in the event every year since. To date Team Isabella has raised just over $100,000!
As a result of Isabella's success and health, my family continues to give back. Beyond fundraising, I have donated blood and blood products over 100 times. I want to continue to help families going through the same thing that we went through, so that no one is going through it without support.
