Ryan has been fighting incurable brain and spine cancer for nearly 6 years, and his mom, Amanda, has made it her mission to pursue any treatment that will prolong Ryan’s life. Amanda currently works 16-18 hour shifts every day but Saturday. Every other week, she and Ryan travel from their home in Virginia to Duke Children’s Hospital in North Carolina for his treatments. Talking with Amanda earlier this fall, we learned that she was sad and overwhelmed; she had to choose between work, or taking the day off to go with Ryan on his school field trip. To Amanda, it felt like everything was falling apart all at once; the water at their house had turned brown - they needed a new $700 filtration system for safe water. On top of that, they were scheduled to go to Duke for Ryan’s treatment, and Amanda’s wages were budgeted to pay for the hotel stay. Ryan was extra sad that Amanda had to work instead of being with him, and that broke Amanda’s heart. There may come a time where memories are all that Amanda has left, which made the situation even harder. Fortunately, your donations stepped in and covered the cost of the water system, as well as a day’s wages to put towards their hotel stay. Because of your generous donations, Amanda was able to go on Ryan's field trip with him, and they had a great time! Although these things may seem small, they are huge in the eyes of a parent facing the loss of their child. “I have worked my tail off so much to try to keep life going, and just when I felt like there was nothing left in me to keep moving forward, you helped me. I can never repay you. Thank you so, so, very much.”