It’s been six years since Mandy Price first heard the words that every parent dreads.
Her daughter Rowan was just three years old when she was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia called AML. That’s when her battle began.
All the while, the Roanoke community was rallying behind Rowan and her family.
Sadly, research on childhood cancer is largely underfunded.
10 News is making sure Rowan’s legacy lives on.
“Everybody’s child is special, but Rowan just was from the moment she was born, had this just extra something about her,” said Mandy. “Her smile would just touch your heart. And she was a joy machine. Whether she was going through chemotherapy or feeling good, she just touched everybody around her and made the world a better place.”
After two rounds of chemo and a cord blood transplant, Rowan Price was announced cancer-free in May of 2019.
“We got about a month where we didn’t have harsh treatments or anything like that, and then she relapsed with her AML. Unfortunately for us and for Rowan, the clinical trials didn’t work, and she passed away on September 15, 2019, from childhood leukemia.”
But Rowan’s legacy didn’t end there.
“We didn’t want other families to experience the heartbreak that we have.”
Thanks to the Rowan Strong community, they raised nearly $170,000 dollars for the RowOn 4 A Cure Hero Fund, which was set up through the St. Baldrick’s Foundation in her name.
That money will go directly to AML research.
“Dr. Wang is the physician that is doing the research, and he actually sent me a thank you note, you know, thanking us for the Hero Fund and for funding his research, which we hope will be groundbreaking. And he wanted, he sent me a picture, and wanted me to know that he also has a child, a little boy named Rowan, that is three years old as well. I cried, teared up, and, you know, I just thanked Rowan for her little Rowan wink. She gives us those every now and then, and that’s how we know that we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing.”
Remembering Rowan, a brave little girl who is still helping other families fight childhood cancer.
“Hope is what kept us going. And so giving other people hope is essential.”
