3-year-old Noah is an energetic kid who loves being surrounded by his six older siblings.

But on the 29th of December 2021, Noah was diagnosed with high-risk B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

For Noah, it all began when he suddenly started acting a little lethargic and a black eye that he got while playing… wasn’t going away and his parents were becoming very worried.

His mom told us, "It felt like something was wrong. Something, maybe mother’s intuition, told me I needed to take him sooner."

They took Noah to urgent care immediately and quickly learned that Noah’s white blood cell count was through the roof… the doctors told them that Noah needed to go to hospital right away.

Noah and his parents waited anxiously and at around 2am on the 29th of December 2021, Noah was diagnosed with high-risk B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Unfortunately, Noah’s diagnosis was also the day of his dad’s working anniversary at the Children’s Cancer Research Fund…

Noah’s dad, Ryan, has been working at CCRF for over 10 years and during that time he has witnessed countless stories of families who have heard the words “your child has cancer”.

And as Ryan says, "I work alongside some of these families every day and know what they have been through. I just kept thinking, 'I know this story."

One of the first steps of Noah’s treatment was getting a port (a small device surgically inserted under the skin on his chest) so that nurses could give treatments and take blood.

But this port access can be a difficult and scary procedure, especially for a 2-year-old since nurses need to put a needle in his chest each time.

But even though he is so young, Noah has developed ways to cope…

As his mom says, "When nurses come in to access his port, he goes into what looks like a robot mode or something and just zones out and looks at an iPad or the clock until it’s over. He doesn’t even flinch. When they’re done, he goes right back to his chatty self."

Most of Noah’s treatment occurs in hospital, but he’s also been able to do some at home with his siblings.

After a few chemotherapy cycles, Noah was sent home with a backpack pump and half a gallon of IV fluid attached to him by a cord…

He was too little to carry it around himself, but one of his six siblings was always on duty to follow him around with it while he played.

As his mom told us, "His siblings do so much for him. Noah is their little baby. The whole family has really stepped up to support him."

One of the biggest challenges for Noah’s family since his diagnosis was asking for and accepting help when they needed it. As they shared with us, "A lot of people want to help, you just have to remind yourself that you’re not a better person for trying to do it all on your own."

Keep being so brave, Noah. We will all be riding for you with all our hearts in Great Cycle Challenge, this September! 

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