Aiden is incredibly special. He has been a miracle since the day he was born. Born to a young mother who was told she would never be able to have children. Born full-term and healthy, the most beautiful 8lbs you have ever seen! Aiden has always just been good, in every sense of the word. He is kind, well mannered, respectful, and so incredibly smart. He is a lover of all things living, especially animals and kids. He is a straight A student (even while battling this awful disease). He hopes to open his own Veterinary clinic one day! Aiden truly has a heart of gold and we know God chose him for this journey with a purpose. Aiden is a giver and that has only shown more since D-Day! Aiden woke up on 12/30/23 with a very bad headache and this headache seemed to come and go with great intensity. After a couple of days of headaches like this over the holiday, we had Aiden seen by his pediatrician. We had Aiden scheduled for a precautionary MRI and started him on some medication in hopes of helping him with these headaches. Exactly one month later on the day of his MRI, 1/30/24, we received news that Aiden had a brain tumor. After a first and then second opinion, Aiden’s tumor was deemed inoperable. His incredible surgeon was able to do an open craniotomy and get a sample of the tumor for genetic testing. The morning we were scheduled to travel to TN for surgery, Aiden woke up very sick. We were unsure of what was happening and just how bad it was as we headed to TN. After a terrifying 4.5 hour drive to TN, we went straight to the ER upon arriving. They immediately started running tests, Aiden was not fully coherent at this point and we were terrified. Aiden’s tumor had grown rapidly in the 6 weeks leading up to surgery and he had a major brain hemorrhage and suffered a stroke. It was like a gut punch. Watching him over the next 24 hours as he came to and faded back out, as he asked the same questions over and over, as he cried for his Dad if he left the room because his short term memory was impacted and he couldn’t remember seeing him just minutes before, was heart wrenching. Watching him be wheeled away to surgery and all of the unknowns was a lot but he came though! Genetics came back while Aiden was recovering and another blow.. Although Aiden has what is typically considered a low grade or slow growing tumor, he has two more aggressive mutations. Mutations that are typically associated with a poorer prognosis. Mutations that don’t typically respond to treatment or only respond short term. Despite all of these our Aiden has remained positive and strong. He has given so much despite his misfortune. Our little family and our incredible community and support team have come together in the last year and handed out hundreds of Bliss Bags (small bags filled with goodies and some little essentials for patients at St. Jude), a stuffed animal drive at Christmas (we personally handed out over 450 stuffed animals to the children of St. Jude and some at Children’s of Alabama. Our incredible community collected over 700), we hide goodies and hand out toys at each check up, etc. Aiden says giving back is what has helped him through this journey the most. He is incredible! He even gave his brand new (never even got to use it) Oculus VR headset to a boy at St. Jude because he had to stay longer for treatment than Aiden. Aiden completed 6 weeks of radiation to his brain and was gifted this VR headset towards the end of treatment and with no hesitation, Aiden gave it away. I could talk about this kid all day, but you get it! He is meant for amazing things and though the doctors say he will never be “cancer free” (their goal is stability), Aiden and our mighty God will prove them wrong! 

Thank you for choosing to donate to The Cure Starts Now Foundation. 100% of this donation, after credit card processing fees, goes directly towards research to find the homerun cure for cancer starting with pediatric brain cancer research.

If you would like to make a donation by mail please send a check to:  The Cure Starts Now Foundation; 10280 Chester Road; Cincinnati, OH 45215 and put the child's name in the memo.

The family receives notification of all donations made to this tribute fund automatically. Thank you again for giving.  The cure starts with you…The Cure Starts NOW!