Rye sisters Kate and Caroline Stevens are connecting their family’s history with a local fundraising effort: nearly 19 years after Caroline donated bone marrow to Kate, they will run the New York City Marathon as members of Fred's Team, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s official running program, according to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Their fundraising supports pediatric cancer research at the center that treated Kate.
A Diagnosis That Reshaped Two Childhoods
Kate was treated for acute monocytic leukemia, a subtype of acute myeloid leukemia, according to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which says chemotherapy put Kate’s cancer into complete remission, but a transplant was recommended to reduce the risk of relapse and improve long-term survival. Caroline, just four years old at the time, turned out to be a compatible donor — a fact MSK describes simply: “Kate's four-year-old sister Caroline was indeed a match.” The transplant worked, and Kate has stayed in remission ever since, returning for annual checkups at the cancer center that treated her.
As reported by the Rye Record, Kate is now 23 and remains in remission. She recently graduated from Harvard University with a degree in human evolutionary biology and is currently interviewing for medical school, according to the seed reporting from amNewYork. Caroline, meanwhile, graduated from the University of Richmond with a major in leadership studies and a minor in law, per the same Rye Record account.
Running For Fred's Team, Nearly Two Decades Later
The sisters’ marathon comes close to a milestone in Kate’s recovery: she told amNewYork that the 19th anniversary of her transplant falls two weeks after the race. Training for 26.2 miles has taken substantial work, she said, but running alongside Caroline makes the experience especially meaningful.
Caroline described herself as grateful to have been Kate's bone marrow donor and to have helped her recover, adding that sharing the marathon experience as sisters is special, and that fundraising for the cause makes it more meaningful, per the amNewYork report. The Rye Record described the Stevens sisters as having run the NYC Marathon in separate waves, while an Apple Podcasts episode listing described Caroline as training to run 26.2 miles on November 1, 2026, to raise funds for cancer research. amNewYork reported that the pair will run together this year for the second time.
Fundraising With a Personal Stake
The Rye Record reported that the sisters set an $18,000 fundraising goal and raised $26,902 for pediatric cancer research and support at MSK. Their effort is part of a larger fundraising program: Fred's Team says proceeds go to cancer research at MSK, and the cancer center reported that participants and donors have directed more than $130 million to the institution since 1995, according to MSK. amNewYork reported a higher all-time total of more than $136 million. MSK said the 2025 Fred's Team roster included more than 1,200 runners, including its doctors, nurses, staff, and current and former patients.
How the Marathon’s Charity Program Works
New York Road Runners lists MSKCC Fred's Team as a Gold Level partner in the TCS New York City Marathon’s official charity program, a tier it shares with NYRR Team for Kids, according to New York Road Runners. The organizer reported that more than 14,000 charity runners raised a record $80 million for more than 600 charities during the 2025 marathon. Its 2026 announcement listed the race for Sunday, Nov. 1; that schedule alone does not establish whether the Stevens sisters have already run or are still preparing, according to New York Road Runners.
Kate told the Rye Record that childhood cancer research has historically been underfunded and under-researched simply because the affected population is small — a gap she said she thinks about often. AmNewYork reported that Kate experienced premature ovarian failure and infertility as long-term effects of her treatment. Separately, research published in the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy journal notes that ovarian function impairment and infertility are among the most frequent late effects following hematopoietic stem cell transplants. Kate has taken daily medication since age five related to her cancer or its lingering effects, and has said the disease's impact has permanently changed her life — she has never known life without it, according to amNewYork.
From Patient to Future Physician
Kate said her desire to practice medicine was inspired directly by the MSK doctors who saved her life as a child, according to amNewYork's reporting. She said that during her medical school interviews, she finds herself thinking back to the physicians who cared for her and how deeply they shaped both her life and her aspirations.
The Stevens sisters' story echoes other cancer-survivor marathon journeys that have surfaced this year. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute reported that Mary Shertenlieb, who received a stem-cell transplant from her sister in 2014, completed her fifth Boston Marathon and sixth marathon overall this year, having raised $156,000 to date for the institute. And in London, sisters Alice and Kate Bolton were preparing to run the 2026 London Marathon less than a year after Alice received a life-saving stem-cell transplant from Kate, according to Olympics.com. For Kate and Caroline Stevens, the finish line in New York carries its own weight — not a record attempt, but a shared reminder of how far they've come since a four-year-old's bone marrow gave her sister a second chance.
