Caleb's Crusade - Ryan and Brandy Leon

In the fall of 2007, I heard about a co-worker of mine named Robert Whan whose 3 year old son Caleb was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of leukemia called Hypodiploid ALL. At the time, my wife Brandy who was pregnant with our second child had a best friend whose son Zack was also battling leukemia. Knowing the difficult journey brave Zach and his parents were on, we both started following Caleb’s story, keeping track of his progress on his CaringBridge website. In November of 2007, Caleb received numerous chemotherapy treatments at Duke University which required Caleb and his parents (Robert and Monique)to relocate to Durham, NC for over 4 months. Unfortunately, Caleb relapsed on March 10, 2008, just 4 days after returning home to Florida from Durham, NC and Robert and Monique were forced to place Caleb in Hospice Care and pray for a miracle. Over the next few weeks, Caleb exhibited the same tremendous strength and courage as his favorite superhero Spiderman. He surprised his doctors by breathing on his own even after having the respirator tube removed. This allowed Caleb to go home with his parents and share some very precious time together. On March 28th, 2008, just 11 days after his 4th birthday, Caleb earned his wings and was called home to the Lord. The passing of Caleb, a little boy we had only known through journal entries on a website, deeply impacted both Brandy and I. With a little boy of our own (Bobby) and another baby on the way, the idea of losing a child was simply too painful to comprehend. We had decided to wait until the birth to find out the sex of our second child, but knew that if it was a boy, his name would be Caleb. That July, Brandy gave birth to Caleb Leon. The way we live our lives and treasure our loved ones has been enriched by Caleb’s story of strength and love. The courage of his parents to continue the fight against childhood cancer is an inspiration. Brandy and I are both honored and blessed to be a part of Caleb’s Crusade. Although there is no way that we could ever fully thank the Whan family for all they have given us, we are humbled that we have the opportunity to join them on this most important crusade.