When Enrique’s daughter Arianna was three, she was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor. Doctors gave her a year to live. But then the family came to St. Jude, where cutting-edge treatments helped her live a lot longer.

Arianna passed away two weeks before her 8th birthday. But he says those extra years together were precious. “Arianna wasn’t supposed to make it to be four, but she made it to two weeks shy of eight,” he says. “And we had those five years to make amazing memories.”

Throughout their journey, Enrique and his wife were comforted by the joyful atmosphere at St. Jude and reassured by doctors who refused to give up on their daughter.

“I don't know if we'll ever get to a place where we’ll cure childhood cancer completely,” he says. “But I think if it does ever happen, it'll happen here at St. Jude.”

Donate to St. Jude: www.stjude.org/donate

Credits Host: Joel Alsup
Recorded by: Andres Garcia and Nathan Black
Music production: Kazimir Boyle
Producer: Geoffrey Redick
Editor: Grace Korzekwa Evans
Executive Producer: Louis Graham

This podcast is a production of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.