Tim Weigner, a retired military veteran of Poolesville, MD, joined our WMZQ St. Jude Radiothon pres. by Dulles Glass to share the story of his late son, Phillip, who ultimately lost his battle with cancer.
Tim recalled listening to our St. Jude Radiothon back in 2010 and being so affected by a Rascal Flatts song that he picked up the phone to call 1-800-795-1800 and donated to St. Jude. It was then two months later that he would hear the words that no parent wants to hear. Phil, who had just turned 20, had a tumor in his stomach and was diagnosed with late stage 4 neuroblastoma.
Neuroblastoma is a childhood cancer that affects the nerve cells and frequently starts in the adrenal glands. According to St. Jude, neuroblastoma is most commonly diagnosed to children under the age of 5, but Phillip was a rare case. There was no treatment plan for someone of Philip's age with neuroblastoma and he was only the 52nd case in the past 50 years of an individual over the age of 18 with this form of cancer.
"What we were able to benefit from was the research St. Jude was able to provide," Tim said to Michael J and Ty Bailey.
Listen to the rest of Tim & Phillip's story in the video above.
Following Tim's story, the phone lines on our Croppmetcalfe Phone Bank started ringing off the hook and an anonymous government contractor pledged to match all Partners in Hope donations for 15 minutes.
Tim remained with Michael J and Ty for the remainder of our Radiothon and even presented the 5PM Apple Federal Credit Union tote board total of $414,971.
All in all, we were able to raise 512,042 in the two days of our Radiothon that will be donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. This wouldn't have been possible without the help of all our volunteers and Partners in Hope who are looking to end childhood cancer. While the radiothon is over, you can still donate by calling 1-800-795-1800 or by visiting www.stjude.org/radio/WMZQ.