Racing Against Childhood Cancer
Maynard Family Fights Back with Jake’s Reindeer Race
By Duncan Phillips
The phone call was the kind every parent dreads making. On the other end, it was the kind of call every parent fears taking.
Cindy Maynard remembers that call from her husband John Gary in 2004. Upon hearing that her 5-year-old son Jake had a malignant tumor in his foot, she pulled her car into a parking lot and sobbed.
“We both felt so helpless,” Cindy Maynard said. “As parents, you can’t help but have dreams for your children, and at that particular moment, it was hard to imagine any of those dreams coming true.”
Tears flowed for the longest few minutes of Cindy Maynard’s life. Then, she looked at Jake’s younger brother Avery in the rear-view mirror.
“I realized I was scaring him,” she said. “I took several deep breaths and tried to talk happily to him.”
Cindy Maynard had a revelation: From that moment on, she and her husband would have to do everything possible to stay positive – for themselves and their children – during such a trying time, even though they inwardly were terrified for the unknown battles that lay ahead.
Jake was diagnosed with a rare cancer – leiomyosarcoma – in his foot. His parents responded by creating the Maynard Childhood Cancer Foundation to raise awareness and funds for childhood cancers.
One of the ways it does so is through the running of Jake’s Reindeer Race, a family-fun-filled event that has helped raise more than $210,000 the past three years. This year’s race is slated for Dec. 7 at the Innsbrook Picnic Area.
“Cancer is terrifying in and of itself,” John Gary Maynard said. “Seeing your 5-year-old son battling cancer is all the more excruciating. We started the race not only to honor Jake, but also to send a message to others like Jake that we know what they’re going through.”
The warning signs were visible from early in Jake’s childhood. He enjoyed normal activities – playing outside, playing with Legos, riding his bike and pretending to be a pirate – but something just didn’t seem right. He was slow in learning how to walk and once he could, Jake tried to avoid walking and running as much as possible.
Cindy and John Gary noticed his left leg began getting skinnier than his right and that his gait was slightly off-balance. They took him to numerous doctors and countless physical therapy appointments before the discovery of a tumor in his left foot at age 4. This one was benign. The tumor was removed and follow-up MRI tests were scheduled to check for recurrence.
Despite their hopes and prayers, the tumor returned. When the doctors confirmed its malignancy, John Gary prepared to make call every parent fears.
“I got the news from our doctor and didn’t know how to react,” he said. “If that wasn’t bad enough, I had to call my wife and relay the news.”
Over the next four years, Jake endured 10 surgeries – including one that required the amputation or part of his foot. Even now as Jake is cancer-free, he still struggles with lingering pain, continual testing, reconstructive surgeries and the emotional burden that comes with such an ordeal.
“We tried to stay as normal and happy as possible during this terrible time,” said Cindy. “But our fear of Jake’s cancer returning never really fades away.”
The Maynard Childhood Cancer Foundation (MCCF) was created to raise awareness of childhood cancers, particularly sarcoma – cancer of the connective and soft tissue such as bone, cartilage, fat, muscle and blood vessels. Despite the fact that it accounts for 20 percent of childhood cancers and has a high mortality rate, sarcoma goes largely unnoticed by the public and has even been labeled “the forgotten cancer.”
“Treatment options for many forms of sarcoma are extremely limited,” said John Gary. “In fact, as few as 30 percent of patients with soft-tissue sarcoma survive the disease. Clearly, more needs to be done.”
Jake’s Reindeer Race benefits pediatric cancer research and programs. The inaugural race (held in 2004) drew more than 1,500 participants and raised more than $72,000. Now in its fourth year, the race has grown into a festive event where runners and walkers dress in holiday-related costumes for a good cause.
In an effort to help those families who are just beginning a battle with childhood cancer, the Maynards are using some of the proceeds from the race to provide topic-specific coping books to pediatric cancer and pediatric hospice patients at VCU Children’s Medical Center and Bon Secours Noah’s Children. These books focus on age appropriate coping strategies, pain management and other supportive resources for parents.
The rest of this year’s proceeds will continue to be applied toward promising pediatric cancer and sarcoma research at VCU Massey Cancer Center and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
“We’re grateful for all the support we’ve received the past few years,” Cindy said. “We feel blessed to be able to help others who have been traveled the same road we have.”