As September is Cancer awareness month, Expertox is proud to recognize Eric Helmreich, a 22 year survivor of AML, Acute Myeloid Leukemia, and current Lab Technician of Expertox forensic toxicology. Eric, who received his diagnosis when he was just 2 years old, was the first ontologous bone marrow transplant – meaning he donated bone marrow to himself – at Texas Children’s Hospital, a client of Expertox.
After winning his battle with cancer, Eric’s family, as well as a small group of other families who endured the drama of childhood cancer, formed the Houston area Candlelighters association, www.candle.org, to provide practical and emotional support to other families battling childhood cancer. Eric, as he has gotten older, became a valuable member of Candlelighters assisting with many of their fundraising activities and moral support ventures to benefit local families affected by childhood cancer.
The next event is a weekend camp where entire families affected by a child’s diagnosis come to relax and escape. Candlelighters covers all the camp expenses for the familes thanks to generous donations at fundraising events such as their annual Golf Tournament at Wildcat Golf Course coming this April 2011. To assist Eric in his ventures of helping local families please donate to Candlelighters at www.candle.org and/or register to be a blood, organ, and/or marrow donor through the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center at www.giveblood.org. Nothing can be done to prevent childhood cancer, but much can be done to support those affected.
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