A 2-year-old girl from Northern Kentucky is turning her own cancer battle into comfort for other sick kids across the country. Remington Robinson, known to her family as Remi, was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma in late June, and her parents have since built a nonprofit that has already sent personalized care packages to children as far away as Colorado.
A Diagnosis That Came After Weeks Of Confusion
According to WKRC, Remington began complaining of stomach pain at the end of April and beginning of May. Her mother, Jessica Robinson, took her to a pediatrician and urgent care, where she was initially found to be constipated. By the end of June, the family had gone to Cincinnati Children's Hospital, and about a week after arriving there, they learned Remington's diagnosis: high-risk neuroblastoma, with a tumor on her adrenal gland, per the same report.
Neuroblastoma is the most common malignant extracranial solid tumor of childhood, according to Cincinnati Children's Hospital, which notes the tumor usually begins in nerve tissues of the adrenal gland above the kidney. The hospital says roughly 650 children in the United States are diagnosed with the disease each year, most before age 5 — though a separate report citing the Cleveland Clinic put the figure closer to 700 to 800 cases annually, according to LEX18.
Facing Months Of Treatment Ahead
WKRC reports Remington faces 18 months of treatment, with tumor removal scheduled for November and a bone marrow transplant planned for later in her care. Jessica Robinson told the station that Remington tells her that her belly feels better and asks to go home, a small comfort amid the long road ahead.
Out of that fight, the Robinson family created the Brave Like Remington Foundation, a nonprofit aimed at supporting children and families facing serious illness. LEX18 reports the foundation launched its signature Brave Box program on September 6, and in its first month it had already become a resource through 13 hospitals in nine states. The Brave Like Remington Foundation describes its mission as bringing courage, comfort and hope to children and families facing cancer, serious illness and hospitalization.
Boxes Built Around Each Child
The boxes themselves are not generic care packages. Per WKRC, Brave Boxes include items like coloring books, crayons, painting supplies and fidgets, and each one is personalized to the specific needs of the child receiving it. The family's effort has already reached kids as far away as Colorado, the station reports.
LINK nky reports that parents, guardians and hospital social workers can reach out to the foundation to request a box and submit a list of items the child might want or need. “Every box is built specifically for the child that's receiving it,” the outlet notes, describing how the program tailors each package to a child's age and interests. By the time of that report, the foundation said it had delivered 12 boxes around the country since the program's launch.
A Father's Hope For What Comes Next
Derrick Robinson, Remington's father and the foundation's founder, said the family cannot take away what children are fighting, but they can help make their day a little brighter, according to WKRC. The family hopes that, as Remington grows up, she can look back on her own courage and see the impact it has had on other families going through similar struggles.
Looking ahead, the Robinsons plan to eventually help families financially and to donate toward neuroblastoma research, the station reports. The foundation's own site notes that some programs remain in development and will only launch once funding, materials and capacity allow. For now, the group also sells a 24-page Brave Like Remington coloring book for $4 and a children's book for $14 plus $5 shipping, with each purchase supporting another donated copy, according to bravelikeremington.org.
Not The Only Family In This Fight
The Robinsons are not alone in Northern Kentucky in confronting neuroblastoma. LEX18 has also reported on 3-year-old Sophia Brockman, who is battling stage-four neuroblastoma after her cancer returned following treatment — her family thought the worst was behind them when she rang the bell marking the end of treatment in March. Elsewhere, a Minnesota nonprofit called the Jonathan Zierdt Cancer Fund delivers free Caring Boxes to Mayo Clinic cancer patients in Mankato, according to KEYC, a sign that the idea of comfort packages for sick children has taken root in more than one community.
