Support Aedan Wrigley's Fight Against Brain Cancer

This is a fundraiser to support the Wrigley Family as their 10-year-old son, Aedan fights brain cancer.

It's not often in life you get to personally deliver the good karma someone deserves, but if you're reading this right now, that's exactly the opportunity that's in front of you.

In 2007, my sister Desiree had an idea to create a website where people could easily send money to one another. She turned this seed of an idea into the world's first crowdfunding website for medical expenses, GiveForward. With her co-founder Ethan, she helped thousands of families raise HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of dollars to cover out-of-pocket expenses while they navigated medical needs of all kinds. Now, she and her family are the ones who need support, and it's our turn to surround them with love and the funds they need to navigate the challenging year ahead of them.

Background

On September 15, 2024 my sister sat in the ER of Lurie Children's Hospital in downtown Chicago as a doctor shared that the rapid brain MRI they had done on her youngest son Aedan revealed a large tumor. That night, they did an emergency procedure to reduce the pressure on his brain, and three days later, a neurosurgeon removed a tumor the size of a tennis ball that was growing at the base of his skull.

Desiree and her husband John spent the next week living in the hospital, supporting Aedan who worked tirelessly in rehab to combat some of the side effects of the surgery. He is an athlete and a determined young man, and as he worked hard to get a chance to go home, Desiree and John supported him and each other with the kind of deep and patient love that only two people who have spent their lives living for others can do.

While Aedan worked in physical therapy, we waited to hear if the tumor was benign or malignant, and despite prayers and love from friends and family around the world, the pathology reports that came back revealed that the tumor is malignant and will require up to 9 months of treatment.

What's Next

As the Northwestern neurosurgeon who removed Aedan's tumor let them know, the Wrigleys are taking the first steps of a long and arduous marathon. The family is optimistic, but ensuring Aedan has a beautiful and healthy future requires acting quickly and with aggressive treatment. After speaking to experts around the country who understand Aedan's specific tumor type, the family has decided to get treatment at St. Jude in Memphis, TN.

While they are grateful to have the ability to receive the best care in the world, the logistics of doing so are complicated. John, a lifelong civil servant, will have to retire early in order to help care for Aedan as he undergoes proton radiation and chemotherapy. Desiree will move down to Memphis in a few days with Aedan so they can begin treatment, and for the next 7 months Desiree and John will switch off staying with Aedan in Memphis while the other stays with Griffin in Chicago.

They will do whatever it takes to get Aedan the best possible care, but this means they will not be able to live together as a family for a very long time and the impact it has on their careers, Griffin and Aedan's childhood, and their livelihoods is big.

Why we're fundraising

St. Jude is a fantastic organization that covers any treatment costs not covered by insurance, an impossibly generous program that the Wrigleys are extremely grateful for, but the cost of treatment is just one part of navigating a major illness. To help give an idea of what your donations might support, I'm sharing a few important needs below.

Travel

The more funds we raise, the more often the Wrigleys can be together as a family. In addition to the flights to switch off staying with Aedan and Griffin, they want Griffin to be able to visit his brother as often as possible.

Future Medical Expenses for Aedan

There are many needs outside of the treatment needed to ensure Aedan has the best chances of beating this cancer. He will need regular scans every 3 months for years, and after that will need scans every 6 months for decades. There are many side effects to aggressive radiation and chemotherapy that the Wrigleys have to consider and reserve funds for in order to ensure Aedan can have the life and family he desires in the future.

Life Insurance

Once you've had cancer, the cost of getting life insurance as an adult is much higher. The Wrigleys are planning to put any funds raised that exceed their out-of-pocket expenses into a savings account that offers Aedan the ability to protect his future.

Changes in career for the Wrigleys

Retiring early has repercussions for the family financially, and we are raising money to ensure that during a scary time they don't have to think about lost income and can focus all of their energy on supporting Aedan and Griffin in the ways they need.

Meals, housecleaning, and dog boarding

When you're focused on helping a child heal, the last thing you want to think about is meal prep or deep cleaning. While at home in Chicago, Desiree and John will be parenting solo and may want to order meals rather than cook, to spend time with Griffin rather than deep cleaning the house, and when the whole family is in Memphis together will need to board their dog Lily.

What you can do

No one deserves to have their 10-year-old face cancer and all that comes along with treatment, but there are perhaps no two more deserving people of love and support than Desiree, who spent the better part of a decade ensuring that no one going through what she's facing now has to be afraid of how they will cover their financial needs, and John who has spent his entire career as a civil servant helping people in some of their most vulnerable moments.

If you are reading this, the best way to help is to make a contribution to this fundraising page. If you are looking for additional ways to help, you can also:

Thank you for loving and supporting the Wrigleys during this challenging time. We are all hopeful about the future and committed to the mantra the family has chosen that also happens to be Aedan's blood type.

B ❤️ Positive ,

The Wrigley Family Fundraising Team