Dream Home helps St. Jude be a beacon of hope

TOPEKA (KSNT) - Memphis is home to many things—Graceland, Beale Street, the Pyramid—and in 1962, it was also home to a small research hospital.

Now, that hospital has grown into St. Jude’s, which has pushed the survival rate from 20% to 80% for childhood cancer. It all began with entertainer Danny Thomas taking on something that was deemed incurable six decades ago.

The hospital helps children like Yara, who are getting better with St. Jude’s care.

“The gains that they’re making at St. Jude—they don’t stay in Memphis,” Brittany, Yara’s mom, said. “If you have this disease or genetic disorder…if your child is sick in St. Louis or sick in Memphis, St. Jude is going to do anything they can to help that child.”

Yara was diagnosed with a genetic mutation that keeps her bone marrow from producing normally. Because of St. Jude, her family will never receive a bill for treatment, travel, housing, or food.

“For us to be able to come into St. Jude and not have to worry about those things at all—it is just a blessing,” Brittany said.

“I love to go there. I asked my dad if I can go back to the hospital and he said, ‘Why?’ and I said, ‘Because it’s fun,” Yara said.

On my visit, they are showcasing the research work done on campus.

KSNT 27 News' Partnership with St. Jude has brought in millions of dollars to St. Jude, and countless children have benefited from the cancer discoveries shared with doctors the world over.

“I had a very rare kind of cancer called Myxoid angioblastoma which was tumors inside blood vessels in the bone,” Bess Atkinson, legal analyst with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “I had over 30 tumors all over my body. I’m one of ten cases all over the world.”

St. Jude’s saved Atkinson’s life.

“Most of my adolescent years from 11 to 18, I was coming here for treatment. This was my second home,” Atkinson said. “When I was finished and done with treatment, I would get homesick for St. Jude. That’s kind of what brought me back here, because I was homesick.”

Washington University graduate Eliza Hendrix is an occupational therapist working on this ever-growing campus.

“I was able to think big on where I wanted to go and had the option to think about a rotation in Memphis, so it really worked out,” Hendrix said.  “The work I do every day is really made possible by the donations and resources we have access to, to try different strategies with our patients undergoing challenging issues and deficits because of the treatment and diagnosis.” 

Behind the scenes, patients, families and medical students are completing clinicals and doing research. Their medical breakthroughs and discoveries are helping children, like Yara, grow up.

The Dream Home can be found at 2635 SW Sherwood Park Drive in southwest Topeka. It is being built by Drippé Homes and has an estimated value of $600,000. It will be raffled off to one lucky winner.

Features of the dream home include three bedrooms, two bathrooms and an estimated 2,200 square feet. Free tours of the home run from July 12-28 at the following times:

• Fridays: 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• Saturdays: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Sundays: Noon to 4 p.m.

Less than 1.450 tickets for the 2024 St. Jude Dream Home are available. Each ticket is $100. Get a ticket here or call (800) 846-2640.

For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.