Luke Strong

My name is Lindsay DalPorto and this GoFundMe is being set up to help Bill and Courtney Vogelsanger continue to give their son, Luke, the care he needs.

Luke is an 11 year old boy in the fifth grade. While we’ve always known how creative, compassionate, smart, and silly he is, we have all recently come to find out just how strong and brave he is too.

On October 27, 2023 Luke was diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. His only symptom was a chronic cough and his diagnosis has blindsided his family and friends. Treatment started immediately. Unfortunately, the day he was said to have reached remission was also the day he was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit with full body sepsis and respiratory failure.

After being intubated for almost 2 weeks and a few close calls where we almost lost him, he was able to come out of intensive care and be moved to the oncology floor. This resulted in a 77 day hospital stay where Luke lost his ability to walk and effectively use his hands and arms.

Since being released from the hospital on February 7, Luke has continued chemo treatment once a week and is receiving intensive physical and occupational therapy three days a week.

Courtney had to take a leave from work for 4 months to care for Luke. Though she’s back at work now, she is making less than half of what she normally would due to the amount of unpaid days she had to take off. Bill was fired from his job in February due to the amount of time he was having to take off in order to help take care of Luke and their 7 year old daughter.

The medical bills are rolling in and the family is struggling. Having to cover their normal expenses, plus the medical bills, with no income from Bill and a fraction of Courtney’s normal pay has become unsustainable. Unfortunately, Bill will not be able to get a new job until summer when Courtney will be off work due to all of Luke’s treatment and therapy appointments.

Courtney and Bill are truly some of the most selfless people I have ever met. I feel incredibly blessed to call them my friends. They have gone above and beyond without hesitation for my family and now it is our turn to help repay them.

These are good people dealing with the most difficult situation a family could face. I’m hoping this go fund me can help to ease some of Courtney and Bill’s struggles as they continue to focus on their sweet boy who is fighting for his life every day.