Jacob is a sweet and sensitive 5-year-old boy. His favorite color is turquoise, and his favorite activity is building robots and dinosaurs with Legos. He likes to make people laugh and learn about the world around him, especially animals and nature. He is also very protective of his younger brother, Max, and loves him so much. 

When Jacob was younger, he found out that Max had leukemia. This was hard for him, as he was used to being with his mom every day, since she stopped working after Max was born. This suddenly changed and they tried to help him understand what was happening to his brother. His parents told him that Max had monsters in his blood, and the doctors and medicine were trying to kill the monsters and make sure they never come back. 

It is difficult for Jacob to go through this as he is so young. He doesn’t always understand why Max gets to be with his mom all the time but he doesn’t. His mom is very proud of him for being a loving, strong big brother, who always looks out for Max. 

The SuperSibs program and Child Life team at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have helped Jacob a lot to make him feel special while his parents are paying attention to Max. He was also enrolled in preschool right after Max was discharged from CHOP so that he could live more of a normal life.

Read more about Jacob’s hero brother Max.