Abigail Freitag loved her family more than anything in the world. Her best friends were her older brother Samuel and her little sister Sarah. She was extraordinary in every way—beautiful, athletic, a talented preschooler and above all, the kindest person her mother ever knew.

Abigail was brave too.  When she was 3 years old, she had what appeared to be a stomach bug that would not go away. After being sick and just “off” the entire winter, Abigail received an ultrasound that would reveal the cause of her sickness. Abigail had bilateral Wilms Tumor, a cancer of the kidneys. There were tumors in both of Abigail’s kidneys and the disease had also spread to her lungs.

Abigail received 12 weeks of outpatient chemotherapy in Syracuse, NY, in hopes that it would prepare her for surgery in Boston. When that wasn’t effective enough, she was treated with ICE chemotherapy, an aggressive regimen administered over 5 days every 20 hours. The ICE treatment reduced the size of Abigail's tumor so that surgery could be performed. She had part of her left kidney and her entire right kidney removed. Following surgery, Abigail had more ICE chemotherapy and radiation before discovering her cancer had returned again.

Abigail never gave up her brave, kind spirit. She never complained through weeks and weeks of painful treatment. She was overjoyed to come home after a long hospital stay; but never refused to return for further painful treatments.

After another round of radiation and chemotherapy to stop the progression of Wilms Tumor, Abigail passed away in April 2015.

Her family wishes to carry on Abigail’s amazing spirit of kindness, love and joy. Her mother says they are still working on practical ways to forge forward without the little girl they will never forget.

“She was a gift of a lifetime,” says Christine, her mother. Through the Freitag family’s painful journey, Abigail taught her family to always hold onto each other and to never let the diagnosis come between the love in their family.

Abigail told her mom, “Mama, I’ll never forget you.”

Information provided by Christine Freitag, Abigail’s Mom
October 2015