Young girl with cancer receives life-saving care supported by Pan-Mass Challenge
BOSTON - Josh Danoff and his wife Clare Storck have their hands full on any given day. Their two daughters, 9-year-old Josephine and 4-year-old Matilda, are as energetic as ever. That energy can make it tough to tell what Tilly, as she's called, has been through over the past two years.
"It is such a terrifying experience when we got this news," said Danoff. "We didn't know anything."
When Tilly was two, she broke her right arm. It took a while for it to heal, and it never regained the strength it had. A doctor ultimately ordered an MRI. That scan picked up something else - a tumor in Tilly's spine.
"You're feeling things, but you are in a certain amount of survival mode," Storck recalled when she first learned the news of her daughter's diagnosis. "It is the most devastating thing. It's that pivotal moment of like your child being born and yes, that moment changes your life, and this moment has changed our lives for sure."
Tilly has a low-grade glioma in her cervical spine. The tumor cannot be removed despite the surgical attempt to do so. Tilly underwent low-level chemotherapy that slowed the growth. She now goes in every 12 weeks for an MRI. The full impact of this tumor on Tilly will likely not be known until she reaches her twenties.
Tilly was taken to the Jimmy Fund Clinic, a part of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, that specializes in pediatric cancer cases.
The family is taking part in Saturday's Pedal Partner Party at Fenway Park. The event is in coordination with the Pan-Mass Challenge and is something the Danoffs participate in. Tilly's grandmother will be riding and her sister, Josephine, will be taking part in the kids ride.
The Pan-Mass Challenge raised $69 million for the Dana-Farber Cancer institute in 2022. They are looking to exceed that number in 2023.
WBZ is a media partner with the Pan-Mass Challenge.
