Cancer Warrior, Mason Raleigh

Each week, Fourth and Gold will highlight a cancer warrior who has bravely and fiercely stood strong against cancer. At Fourth and Gold, we want you to see the faces behind our drive and connect with them in a way that you wouldn’t have been able to if you didn’t take the stand to demand #MoreThan4! Our precious kids have cancer, but cancer is not who they are. 

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Week of March 17, 2018

Warrior boy, Mason Raleigh, AKA Master-Legendary Chef Mason,  diagnosed with Pre-B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) at 4 years of age.

Current Age: 5 (DOB 6/14/12)

Favorite Things to Do: Anything related to dogs and nature. Loves Math (smart boy!), Spends time finding and collecting rocks/sticks and loves helping his mom cook dinner

Favorite Foods: Macaroni, Hot Dogs, Cheese Quesadillas and Cheese Pizza! The boy loves him some cheese 😉

If you know Mason,  you know he is: So full of love and life! Doesn’t know a stranger, very sweet and loving, a mini comedian and doesn’t have a mean thing to say!

What you can’t see here is that Mason:

• Wasn’t able to start school due to his cancer and treatment regimen
• Has to drive THREE AND A HALF hours to clinic for his treatments
• Has had numerous port accesses (needle in chest), blood draws and chemo treatments
• Has undergone several procedures of getting chemo injected into his spine
• His appetite has drastically decreased since treatment began
• He’s missing out on the typical everyday 5 year old life

While our goal here at Fourth and Gold is to let you see the strength, the smiles and the happiness that Mason is able to experience, we want you to know that we were founded because of the harsh reality of the other side of cancer. Mason has lost his hair, he’s lost his freedom, he’s lost his ability to be a normal 5 year old and his family’s entire life is affected by the illness.

The treatment is UNFAIR. Mason’s mom has to think about things for her 5 year old son that mother’s should not have to be thinking about. Will he be able to have kids? What will his long term side effects be? Will his hearing decrease? Will the cancer return?

As a nation, as a society, and as humans, we have to do better. If you’re reading this and this is your first time to our site, you’re now aware of childhood cancer. Please help us make a difference and give kids like Mason a better chance at life. We can do this by taking a stand against our government only giving 4% of all cancer research funds to our children.  #MoreThan4 #NotRare.