“Twelve thousand kids per year get cancer in the United States. But the extraordinary thing isn’t that cancer happens. The extraordinary thing is that cancer doesn’t happen more often. Every human life begins with a single cell. Trillions of cells will form from that single cell. During this process, the DNA will rearrange itself hundreds of times to form all different types of cells: muscle, nerve, bone, blood, connective tissue. If you look at these cells under a microscope, each one has special properties. They all have codes that tell them exactly what to do and exactly when to stop doing it. The complexity of this is extraordinary. There are numerous fail-safes at every level to prevent mistakes. How is it possible that it ever works correctly? There are trillions of chances for something to go wrong. God, it’s unbelievable. The longer I study cancer, the more I’m in awe of the healthy child.”
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Thanks to the 27,000 people who donated, last night we reached our goal of $1,000,000 to help Dr. O’Reilly and his team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center fight pediatric cancer. (A special thanks to the anonymous $14,000 donor who put us over the top in dramatic fashion.) We’ll try to add to that total in the remaining few days to make the largest impact possible. Thanks to everyone who’s engaged with this series. I have received so many notes from the patients and doctors interviewed. They have been so moved and encouraged by your comments. I assure you that every single comment is being read. I know that many of the patient stories have been extremely difficult to read, so thanks to all of you who have helped bear the weight of these stories. Cancer is extremely isolating and there is great value in every type of human connection. So thank you. Anyone still wishing to contribute to our fundraiser can do so here: http://bit.ly/1TpFcdy