Jacksonville, Fl — We’re just a few weeks from the 12th Care-a-thon presented by Duval Asphalt, an event that raises money for the Child Cancer Fund.
The radiothon started in 2015 with a singular mission - to forever fund the Child Life Specialist at Nemours Children’s Health. And thanks to your generosity, that has been achieved.
But the financial needs of hundreds of families continues to grow, and your generosity helps them pay for non-medical expenses so that they can solely focus on treatment.
The only Child Life Specialist kids ever knew at Nemours Children’s Health was ‘Miss Joli’ (Joli Craver), who retired several months ago following an illustrious career.
The new Child Life Specialist knows that she is filling big shoes. Sarah Lapcevic (pronounced LAP-seh-vic) says she’s embracing the challenge of replacing a legend, while carving her own path alongside her ‘warriors’. That’s how she refers to the 300-or-so patients in treatment every year at Nemours.
“They are stronger than most people. They’re resilient, and they’re really brave. A lot of kids we want to tell them to look away for an IV or a port access things like that. But a lot of kids actually want to watch. It helps them cope best seeing what’s happening," Lapcevic told me during a recent interview.
Lapcevic - or ‘Miss Sarah’ - interned at Wolfson Children’s Hospital before she was hired in the Hematology and Oncology unit. She has been walking alongside our local cancer kids for years.
Like all of us, Lapcevic has been touched by cancer. Her sister was diagnosed with melanoma as a teenager so she saw first-hand what treatment looks like and how it affects everyone in the family.
“So much of their time spent here is just everyone asking how is the patient feeling, what’s going on with treatment, this is what’s next. Sometimes it’s just meeting families where they’re at,” she said.
She admits it’s hard not to take work home with her, especially after a warrior loses their battle.
“Some who have continued to thrive and live on. I actually got to see a patient who’s going off to college, and that’s so cool,”.
Lapcevic says she is motivated each day to support all of her warriors.
“It’s an honor that I get to share that relationship with the patients and families,”.
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