EARLY YEARS: Virginia to Go Gold for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - ”She was an amazing kid. She was tenacious. She was happy, she was smiley, she was joyful and she was completely healthy until this happened to her,” says Mandy Price.

Leukemia stole the life of Price’s four-year-old daughter, Rowan, in 2019.

Price has been working to raise awareness of pediatric cancer ever since.

Through a partnership with the the ASK Childhood Cancer Foundation, she hopes the Commonwealth will go gold for the month of September.

“So we’re asking people to change their light bulbs to go gold on their homes or businesses or buildings to show that they support childhood cancer awareness,” says Price.

More than 300 children in Virginia are diagnosed with cancer each year.

Juanita Prada was one of them.

She fought cancer not once, but twice. Her recovery, however, wasn’t a smooth one.

“Nobody told me what would happen to be down the road,” says Prada.

In 2003, when Prada was 10, she was diagnosed with leukemia. During her treatment, she suffered several setbacks, including a coma and a stroke.

“That complicated many things. I had to relearn how to talk, how to walk,” she says.

Months after completing treatment in 2006, her cancer came back. In total, Prada lost five years of her young life going in and out of the hospital.

“So, that’s a lot of school that’s missed, that’s a lot of socialization that I’m not around. A lot of things that I’m missing in the real world,” says Prada.

Prada stresses surviving cancer isn’t the end of the struggle.

She and others also deal with “late effects.” Hers include seizures, which make it a challenge for her to live independently.

By starting her own awareness movement called Behold Be Gold, Prada is sharing her story and inspiring others.

“What’s gold? It’s precious, right? It’s a warrior, right? We got to look into the light,” says Prada.

You can follow this link to learn more about GoGoldVa, and to purchase a gold light bulb for your home or business.

And here’s the link to learn more about Prada’s movement, Behold Be Gold,

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