(4/4) “My childhood was building things: model rockets,...

(4/4) “My childhood was building things: model rockets, model cars, train sets, airplanes. And I didn’t just build them. I focused on every detail. I hand painted every letter on the train. I sanded the wooden ribs of the airplane until everything was so precise and fit. And it felt so good when that work was finished and appreciated. It was the same drive that brought me into neurosurgery. I loved fixing things. And I had always been successful. To get to be a neurosurgeon, I had to succeed on so many levels. I’d become accustomed to success. But I finally found something I couldn’t fix. All my DIPG patients were dying. It was failure beyond failure. Kids were dying because I’m not good enough at this. And they don’t deserve it. And neither do the parents. It’s so hard to face these parents. They’ve envisioned everything that’s going to happen to their child from the day they were born: the first girlfriend, the first job, the first homerun, the first time tasting meatballs, it’s infinite. And they come into my office and, ‘Kaboom.’ All of it disappears. It’s horrible. Seeing their faces. It’s beyond abominable. I just can’t take it. I’ve got to stop these kids from dying.”

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Help us fund Dr. Souwedaine’s work. There are less than two days left in our fundraiser to help fight pediatric cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Your donations will fund the science that saves the lives of children. This includes the research of Dr. Souwedaine. Over 50,000 people have donated and we’ve raised $1.9 million so so far. It would be amazing if we could reach $2,000,000 by the end of the series. Even if it’s a small amount, please consider donating: http://bit.ly/1TpFcdy