Clare was a miracle from the moment she was conceived. We had a 3% chance of having a baby so we were shocked when we became pregnant in late 2014. When she was born in September of 2015 we proudly referred to Clare as "Such a Big Miracle in Such a Little Girl." She was a 6 pound, 8 ounce miracle. 

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Nearly three years later, our little miracle was given a rare diagnosis. Clare was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), a brain tumor, in June of 2018. Approximately 150 to 300 children are diagnosed with DIPG each year in the United States. Clare and her fellow fighters each had a .03% chance of being diagnosed with this specific, terrible type of cancer.

 

And once again, the survival statistics are not in our favor. 90% of children die within 2 years of the diagnosis. Less than 1% of children survive for 5 years following diagnosis.  The average survival is 8-11 months following diagnosis.

 

The good news is that Clare is a miracle. She has beaten the odds before and she can certainly beat the odds again.