At 4-years-old, Michael Worosila was a typical happy little boy who loved playing anything with his older brother Joey, particularly Lego’s and Pokemon. When Michael began to develop more than a normal amount of bruises for a child his age and appeared pale, his parents took him to the pediatrician for a blood test. The family celebrated a wonderful Easter together, but just a few days later, they received a phone call that began a period of time which the Worosila’s deem as the worst days of their lives. Michael was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
 
After one round of chemotherapy, it was determined that Michael was a candidate for a bone marrow transplant. He remained in the hospital for more than two months, with a brief respite at home for Father’s Day. At this point, Michael’s family was told that his cancer was not responding to the treatment. Michael continued to receive chemotherapy throughout the remainder of the summer, but was able to complete his treatment to return home by the end of the summer. Then, in September, he received a bone marrow transplant from an anonymous donor. Michael ‘s blood responded beautifully. Very quickly, 99% of it became the donor blood cells. Unfortunately, he experienced Graft vs. Host disease and passed away five months later. At the time of his death, Michael’s blood had no trace of any leukemia cells in it.
 
Michael’s family hopes that although their brave and tenacious hero is gone, that he will never be forgotten and that someday there will be adequate funding for childhood cancer research so that no family will have to experience such the horrific tragedy of losing a child.
 
Information provided by Susan Worosila Fuchs, Michael’s Aunt
December 2012