We are the McCarthy's and want to thank you all so much for visiting our page. This cause is beautiful and very dear to our hearts. Courage for Cassidy was started by our amazing friends a little over a year ago, when our oldest daughter, Cassidy, was dx with stage four renal cancer that had spread to both lungs.
Since day one, Cassidy has proven her resilience, not only to her father and me, but to the world. Cassidy is a fighter, she is strong and she's meant to be here. Cassidy was born lifeless. She was born in respiratory distress. Cassidy wound up thriving and doing well, meeting all her milestones. She blossomed into this sassy, spunky, beautiful, strong, thick headed, warm hearted, old soul, with a contagious laugh and smile that can light up the room.
Daniel and I thought our lives were collapsing right before our eyes the day we found out she was dx with cancer. Never in our wildest dreams did we think our kid would have CANCER. She was just four years old and had her whole life was ahead of her.
The every day routine that we were stuck in was suddently turned upside down. If it wasn't for our family, our friends and our community giving us strength and standing by our sides, we McCarthy's wouldn't have been able to get through this as well as we did. As a parent watching a child become frail and just skin and bones, watching the pain on her face and seeing her hair fall out and her go through things that I, as a parent, have never been through in my life, it took a major toll on me.
Around our daughter we always remained calm and strong, thinking positive thoughts, but behind closed doors we were broken. Even with an army standing beside us, at times it was very scary.
Our daughter never once stopped smiling. Through every chemo med, iv med, blood transfusion and hospital stay, she never once lost her smile or courage. Our daughter became our hero and, because of her and her incredible strength, we knew we could conquer anything that came our way. The dark, scary journey we were on became bright and beautiful. Daniel and I learned to embrace every minute of it, not only for Cassidy but for our sons, Russell and Daniel Jr.
Towards the end of Cassidy’s regimen with chemo, we thought it was best to put her back in school and even send her to camp. Even though Cassidy had proven her strength to us for nine months, she had become withdrawn, both from family and friends. Fortunately, he doctors cleared her to go to Sunrise Day Camp. Daniel and I are forever humbled that she was given the opportunity.
For the first time in nine months, our daughter became a kid again. We saw her smile and spunk come back to life. Cassidy and her brother would come home every day and share their stores and how much fun they had. For us, it was an amazing experience to see both our children spread their wings and become beautiful butterflies.
We McCarthy's want nothing more than to give back and help kids like Cassidy have a magical experience like our daughter and son had. Please help us raise funds so that other kids with cancer and their siblings can be kids and enjoy the pleasures and adventures that summer has to offer.
Love Always, Daniel, Jessica, Cassidy, Russell and Daniel jr.
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