COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. — A teen fighting Leukemia wanted to give back to the hospital that made it possible for his treatments to be free.
Adam Cruthirds’ journey started last year at St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
He hoped the hospital’s walk/ run Saturday will help raise money for childhood cancer.
“My odds were against me for sure,” said Cruthirds.
He was 16-years-old when he was diagnosed with leukemia.
He was allergic to the main chemo and didn’t know if he was going to make it.
“I think when they told me, I didn’t believe them and I didn’t know what Leukemia was, how bad I could have been, because I looked at pictures of my diagnosis and I was six feet, 100 pounds,” he said.
The student, who’s now a senior at St. George’s Independent School, said this taught him not to take life for granted.
“I just want to spread awareness and I feel like I have a good story to spread about resilience. There’s a lot of things that you could be down about but being close to losing my life, I think it taught me a lot about to make your days count,” he explained.
Cruthirds now makes everyday count by raising money to help kids fight cancer. He’s raising $100,000 through various St. Jude events like the St. Jude Walk/Run on Saturday. It’s part of his senior project called Adams Army.
“Near the 40 or 50,000 mark, so for the Walk/Run tomorrow, my team in Memphis has raised about 12,000 dollars with 160 people,” he said.
Cruthirds’ teachers and friends said they’re inspired by his story.
“I think that he is the picture of someone who is making lemonade out of lemons in recognizing that, as he continues to battle his own illness, there’s an importance to help those in need,” said Timothy Gibson, the director of college guidance.
“I feel like in order to stop cancer, you got to raise funds for the research and I think by doing this, it’s keeping me busy. It’s really giving me a new motivation for life,” Cruthirds explained.
The St. Jude Walk/Run in Memphis is Saturday at 8:30 a.m. Check in starts at 7:00 a.m.
The event starts and ends at the hospital.
That event is one of 58 Run/Walks taking place across the country to benefit St. Jude.
This is the first year for this nationwide fundraiser.
