JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — First Coast News is highlighting a disease that doesn't get enough attention, funding or support.
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. An incredibly brave St. Johns County mother is sharing the story of how she fought for the life of her then 3-year-old son, Beckham. She trusted her mother's intuition, didn't take 'no' for an answer and encourages all parents to do the same.
On Sept. 1, 2021, Jamie Thompson discovered a small red bump in her toddler's mouth.
"I was tickling Beckham across my legs and he opened his mouth wide, and I noticed something red in his throat," Thompson said. "We brought him in to the doctor and he was like, 'Okay, I think it's just viral.' Go home and continue watching it."
Thompson watched as the red bump grew and so did her concern. She would continue to contact Beckham's doctor, seeking answers and a solution.
"The third time I went in, and I said, 'I want you to treat this as bacterial, I know something is wrong,'" Thompson said. "I want him to be on some sort of medicine and we'll see if it changes. I wasn't going to take the answer of 'It's viral.' Period."
It turned out to be so much more. During Beckham's fifth visit to see a doctor, "We went in, he saw it and he said, 'It is covering 90 percent of his airway, you need to go to the emergency room right now,'" Thompson said.
A mass was removed from Beckham's tonsils. The family thought all was well but a phone call the following day changed things.
"They said 'We need to conference in an additional person,'" Thompson said. "That is when my heart dropped."
Little Beckham was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma.
"Is he going to live, I mean cancer?" Sue Hearn, Beckham's grandmother said reliving the moment in October 2021 when she was told of her grandson's diagnosis.
"We don't have anyone with cancer in our family," Hearn said. "This is the first time any of us, even friends, relatives, nobody had cancer. That's a nasty word."
The aggressive cancer was treated with an aggressive treatment, the attack was underway within Beckham's tiny body. By December 2021, he had his last chemo treatment and was in remission by July 2022.
Thompson was six months pregnant with her second child throughout the difficult treatments. She says support from friends and family kept her going.
"Almost the entire neighborhood had these signs in their front yard 'Be Brave like Beckham,'" said Hearn.
That became the title of a children's book written by Hearn, also known as 'memaw,' in support of her grandson and daughter.
"The story is: you can do this, you've got this," Hearn said. "And not only can you do this but, the parents can also do this. Mom and dad, grandma, you can do this."
Beckham was able to ring the gold bell at Wolfson Children's Hospital on Aug. 9, 2021, signifying his treatments had come to an end. He is now an active 5-year-old kindergartener who enjoys reading his 'memaw's' book and playing board games with family.
Wolfson Children's Hospital has compiled a list of helpful resources for families battling childhood cancer.
According to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, every day in the United States, 43 children are diagnosed with cancer. Worldwide, roughly 400,000 children and adolescents develop cancer each year.