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JOANN will donate $1.50 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for every yard sold of St. Jude patient-designed fabric.
When Ty was 2, celebrating his older sister's birthday at a bowling alley, running in circles under disco laser lights and posing for family photos, his eyes drew his aunt's attention.
Under the pulsating lights, she saw his right eye held a flat whiteness in the center of his radiant blue iris.
His parents, David and Sandy, took him to an eye doctor. At the doctor's urging, they took Ty in for scans which confirmed he had retinoblastoma, a rare eye cancer diagnosed in fewer than 300 children a year in America.
Even after the CT scan and the official diagnosis, Sandy said, "I don't know why, but I didn't make the connection it was cancer."
Two days later, after a referral to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, they learned exactly what was at stake. Ty’s condition was advanced. His tumor had filled his eye socket and had spread into the tissues surrounding the eye.
He would lose his right eye.
"That was really hard," she said. "Ty never complained. He just pushed through it...so strong, stronger than we were."
Ty's surgery was successful and doctors said he'd need five rounds of chemotherapy to ensure the cancer was all gone.
On his visits, he whimpered at the blood pressure cuff tightening and the painful tug of the chemotherapy port.
Through it all, the inpatient visits and checkups and chemo, Ty turned to art for comfort. If there was pain, nausea, pressure, it didn't faze him as long as he had a canvas and paint nearby.
He was so passionate about it even at 2 and 3 years old that the staff at St. Jude made sure to have art supplies ready for him to use after procedures that required him to be placed under anesthesia.
"He'd wake up from these evaluations and paint," David said.
By the time Ty emerged from his treatment at St. Jude cancer free in 2009, he'd become a local celebrity. He led his small town’s annual St. Jude Trike-A-Thon every year for seven years to raise money for St. Jude. He was the grand marshal leading a motley crew of local kids along a route around a nearby school campus.
To learn more about Ty, check out St. Jude Inspire.
When Ty was 2, celebrating his older sister's birthday at a bowling alley, running in circles under disco laser lights and posing for family photos, his eyes drew his aunt's attention.
Under the pulsating lights, she saw his right eye held a flat whiteness in the center of his radiant blue iris.
His parents, David and Sandy, took him to an eye doctor. At the doctor's urging, they took Ty in for scans which confirmed he had retinoblastoma, a rare eye cancer diagnosed in fewer than 300 children a year in America.
Even after the CT scan and the official diagnosis, Sandy said, "I don't know why, but I didn't make the connection it was cancer."
Two days later, after a referral to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, they learned exactly what was at stake. Ty’s condition was advanced. His tumor had filled his eye socket and had spread into the tissues surrounding the eye.
He would lose his right eye.
"That was really hard," she said. "Ty never complained. He just pushed through it...so strong, stronger than we were."
Ty's surgery was successful and doctors said he'd need five rounds of chemotherapy to ensure the cancer was all gone.
On his visits, he whimpered at the blood pressure cuff tightening and the painful tug of the chemotherapy port.
Through it all, the inpatient visits and checkups and chemo, Ty turned to art for comfort. If there was pain, nausea, pressure, it didn't faze him as long as he had a canvas and paint nearby.
He was so passionate about it even at 2 and 3 years old that the staff at St. Jude made sure to have art supplies ready for him to use after procedures that required him to be placed under anesthesia.
"He'd wake up from these evaluations and paint," David said.
By the time Ty emerged from his treatment at St. Jude cancer free in 2009, he'd become a local celebrity. He led his small town’s annual St. Jude Trike-A-Thon every year for seven years to raise money for St. Jude. He was the grand marshal leading a motley crew of local kids along a route around a nearby school campus.
To learn more about Ty, check out St. Jude Inspire.
- Width: 42 Inches
- Content: 100% Cotton
- Care: Machine Wash Normal Cold, No Bleach, Tumble Dry, Warm Iron
- Imported
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