Volunteering as a photographer with The Gold Hope Project, a non-profit committed to gifting families battling a pediatric cancer diagnoses free portrait session for their little warriors, is always both inspiring and humbling. I never fail to be awed of the love, courage, and commitment these families share in the face of such incredibly painful and challenging circumstances.

Declan’s family was no exception. I met Declan and his incredibly large family and support system on his last day of chemo at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center when he “rang the bell” acknowledging his last day of treatment for a Wilms Tumor. (Check out the final photo below to see just how many family and friends stood behind Declan and his family and came out to share in his special day!)

Declan’s mother shared their family’s story with The Gold Hope Project

My son Declan was diagnosed with stage three kidney cancer before turning two, August of 2019 to be exact. Our journey has been scary and had a lot of tears and long hospital stays. 
Declan kept vomiting randomly a lot. What I thought was him getting car sick, then led a doctor to think it was a virus. I noticed his “virus” wasn’t going away. I kept taking Declan to a hospital time and time again only for this doctor to basically say I was crazy and that this sickness would pass…little did she know he had a tumor bigger than a softball on his left kidney. 

While my sister was watching him, I got a call from my sister telling me to come back quickly. My son was unresponsive. She called 911 and I beat the ambulance there. I rushed my son to an emergency room downtown in Baltimore. The doctors didn’t know what to think. Until one man wanted to do an ultrasound. Because of him, we picked up the huge tumor that an x-ray previously didn’t show. 

We headed into surgery that next morning. Declan lost his entire left kidney. The surgeon informed me that this was kidney cancer, and his tumor had spillage twice. So we needed chemotherapy and radiation. Thankfully, it did not spread from what the pathology report showed.

As a parent, never give up. If you feel something is truly off with your child, keep pushing for answers.

Our family has missed out on a lot of time together. The kids have missed out on the most together. This journey has taught me to never give up. My now two-year-old has given me the greatest gift of all, strength. 

Here are some of my favorite images from Declan’s special day!

To learn more about The Gold Hope Project, or request a session on behalf of a fighter, visit their site HERE.