Help Brianna Budd win her Leukemia Battle

On Thursday October 6th, after a long 10 hours in the emergency room Brianna Budd was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. This comes after a tough 3 weeks of her being constantly ill, suffering symptoms seemingly unexplainable after numerous urgent care visits, virtual doctor appointments and a potential wait to see a specialist for almost 3 months.

Of course, this leaves Brianna and her fiancé with their two young children in a worrying financial situation as the treatment for the leukemia will render her unable to return to work for an indefinite period of time. To further complicate the situation, Brianna’s children could be unable to visit her for the first 4-5 weeks that she is in the hospital as she begins her strong chemotherapy treatments.

Brianna is one of the main bartenders at the restaurant we work at and she is absolutely one of the most loved members there. She is a strong-willed, determined person who until now was always willing to work whenever she was needed, be it 6 days a week, long Sunday doubles, she reliably got the job done. No matter how tough the day was though, you could always find her laughing or giving someone else a laugh who needed it. People enjoy being around her, and enjoy spending their time with her. You could always find her joking with her many regulars, giving anyone a much-needed reality check when the moment deserved, and always hosting celebrations for family and friends, which she certainly was always the life of the party for. Trust me, you haven’t lived until you’ve got a drink in her bar and witnessed one of her impromptu karaoke sessions!

She is all those things and more. She has an inspiring zest for life and her devotion to her 2 children is truly palpable to anyone that knows her. Even now, her concern lies with them, showing just how dedicated she is to then as a mother. My hope is that we are able to raise enough money to cover Brianna and her family’s expenses, so that she can rest assured knowing that at least financially, they will be just fine. As Coretta Scott King said, “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate acts of it’s members.” Brianna is a valued member of a strong community here, and I know together combined with caring acts across the world we can come together to ensure she is able to take the time she needs to heal.

Brianna embodies the meaning of approaching every day with exuberance. I have never seen her face an obstacle and complain, give up, or balk at. She has always given her all, and does so with a smile on her face and laughter all around. Not too many people can actually turn lemons into lemonade, but somehow she manages to get it done.

If you were to enter the Yale New Haven Smilow Cancer Center in Waterford, Connecticut you would immediately be greeted with the words, “The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it.”

Brianna’s tenacious spirit is absolutely strong enough to fight through this and overcome, but together, we can make every step of the way just a little easier for her, and when she’s back, make sure to grab a pineapple upside down shot at her bar. We tried, but nobody makes them like her.