Community Corner
A Family Pays It Forward for Childhood Cancer
Declan's Journey continues as a movement to support families facing illness.
In August 2010, Declan Carmical of Ashburn lost his battle with cancer eight days before his first birthday.
However, the national outpouring of love and support for Declan and his family led to the founding a new organization dedicated to finding a cure for pediatric cancer, Journey 4 A Cure. The group will honor Declan and other pediatric cancer patients by creating awareness, empowering other families battling the illness and raising funds to find a cure.
The inaugural Journey 4 A Cure 10/5k will take place Saturday in Ashburn. Washington Redskins Graham Gano and Lorenzo Alexander will sign autographs at the race from 8:30-10:30 a.m.
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Declan and his twin brother, Cole, were born on August 18, 2009 to Stan and Sherri Carmical. They joined older brothers Brady, 12, and Will, 4. The family was balancing infant care, school, work and fun in a fairly typical suburban life.
On March 9, 2010 the Carmicals’ lives changed forever when Declan was diagnosed with AT/RT (Atypical Teratoid/Rhabtoid Tumor). He had two tumors in his brain and one in his right kidney. For the next five months, Declan underwent multiple surgeries and other cancer treatments.
Find out what's happening in Ashburnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
In April 2010, Declan’s uncle set up a blog for Stan and Sherri - a 1985 graduate of Reston's South Lakes High School - to communicate with family and friends about Declan’s medical condition. They linked it to Facebook and called it “Declan’s Journey.”
Sherri remembers skimming the supportive comments and seeing names she did not recognize. Within weeks, the Declan’s Journey Facebook page had 6,843 followers.
“The support we got was beyond anything we could have imagined,” says Sherri Carmical.
Family and friends designed and sold Declan’s Journey T-shirts and wristbands at fundraising events to support the Carmical family. Proceeds from all fundraisers now support the Journey 4 A Cure.
More recently, Teresa Guidice, a Real Housewives of New Jersey cast member, supported Journey 4 a Cure at a New York City event. She donated a portion of the sales of the “heroes” bracelet from her new jewelry line to Journey 4 A Cure.
Declan did not survive the illness but his legacy lives on. Continuing Declan’s Journey is their effort to continue the love and support forward, Sherri Carmical says.
“We have to continue the movement so that other families don’t go through this again.”
To register for the Saturday event, click here.
