Legendary NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon would also like to be known as a legendary cancer fighter.
Furthering his commitment to kids, his Jeff Gordon Foundation contributed $280,000 earlier this month to CureSearch for Children’s Cancer. The cash will go to the Children’s Oncology Group’s Long Term Follow-Up Center at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California.
Researchers hope that studying the long-term health consequences of kids treated for cancer will lead to quality of life improvements for young patients. Enrolled children will be monitored during treatment and then for the rest of their lives, hopefully well into old age. Forty years ago, the survival rate for children’s cancer was 20 percent; now it’s 80 percent. That’s great progress, but 13,500 kids are still diagnosed every year.
It’s a cause that’s close to the heart of Gordon, father to a young daughter and son. ”Nearly two-thirds of children’s cancer survivors experience significant medical problems resulting from their original cancer and/or its treatment, and these problems can be life-altering,” Gordon explained. “The information gathered through the Center will allow for research and development of treatments with fewer side effects for children with cancer.”
Photo by Darryl Moran via Flickr.