Indian Hill School's Student Council is holding a fundraiser to help Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation move one step closer to finding a cure for all children with cancer! You can join us by making a donation right to this page. The money you donate will pay for research to find better treatments and cures for childhood cancer. Please help kids and their families by providing desperately needed hope! 

With our fundraising page, we are honoring Tony Salerno. Tony is currently a junior at Holmdel High School. 

Tony Salerno is 17 years old and currently finishing up his 11th grade year at Holmdel High School.

When Tony was 2 1/2 years old, he was diagnosed with Stage IV High Risk Neuroblastoma.He completed his front line treatment and thought that he and his family could now put this cancer journey in the rear-view mirror.  Unfortunately, for Tony and many kids like him, many side-effects began popping up.  At age 6 he had surgery to correct cataracts that developed from the radiation treatment.  At age 9 he had surgery to place titanium pins in his hips because the heads of the femurs slid out of their sockets... again due to radiation treatment.  At age 13 he had to have a kidney transplant due to what... you guessed it, his original treatment and radiation.  

During those 10 years, Tony learned about Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and all the good they were doing to support pediatric cancer research.  He was asked to become a Hero Ambassador and speak at events and schools to spread the message that we need more cures and less toxic therapies.  He also encourages everyone at every age to get involved and hold lemonade stands.  He brought his message to Indian Hill School and the student council hosted it's very first Alex's Lemonade Stand with Tony at the forefront.  

Unfortunately, Tony's cancer journey did not end there.  Following his kidney transplant, he developed a secondary cancer called PTLD.  This type of lymphoma required him to go through chemotherapy once again.  That resulted in a perforated bowel and sepsis that landed him in the hospital, on a ventilator, with multiorgan failure fighting for his life.  Luckily, his fighting spirit triumphed.  He was subsequently diagnosed with critical illness myopathy where the connections between the brain and muscles disappeared.  After a long 8 months in the hospital, Tony finally came home.  Now using a wheelchair, Tony has been attending physical therapy trying to regain what cancer has taken away. Oh yes, and Tony has one more side effect from that original radiation treatment... he has also had to have surgery to remove some spots of skin cancer.  All in all, that makes Tony a three times cancer survivor.

Even though he now declared cancer free, he continues to speak out for the need to raise more funds for pediatric cancer research.  He loves speaking for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and he loves drinking lemonade even more!   In his free time, he is an active member of his Boy Scout troop here in Holmdel.  He is currently an Eagle Scout and continues to work on earning merit badges  (It takes a minimum of 21 merit badges to earn the Eagle rank, but Tony has just finished his 60th).  He loves video games and hanging out with friends and family (and his dog) whenever he can.