Today we’d like to introduce you to Ed & Krista Fink.
Alright, thank you for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Back in July 2020, we noticed a larger-than-normal lymph node on our son’s neck. Dylan, at that time, was 14 years old and about to start his Freshman year at Stow HS. We didn’t think much of it because he was not experiencing any other issues; he played fall baseball, did CrossFit workouts, and played lacrosse. Nevertheless, we still took him to the doctor to be sure, and the doctor thought nothing of it either and said that if it doesn’t go down in size or gets bigger, come back in.
As the weeks went on, we honestly kind of forgot about it until some random day in August. My wife asked him about it, and it didn’t feel like it had gone down in size. We made another appointment with the doctor, who referred us to a general surgeon. We had an appointment with the surgeon, and he didn’t seem bothered by it as well but felt that we should do a biopsy to be sure. We had a biopsy scheduled on Sept 4th; little did we know that day, our lives would never be the same.
After the biopsy, they brought my wife and I into a room and we heard 4 words no parent ever wants to hear…”your son has cancer.” They went on to say that they were unsure what kind it was, and they would need to send it out to get an official diagnosis. When we received the official diagnosis, they told us that he had a very rare form of stage 4 Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and he had tumors at the base of his skull, neck, chest, spine, and spleen. They told us that he would need 6 rounds of chemo, and all of it would be done as an in-patient at Akron Children’s Hospital. Dylan began treatment on Sept 23rd, undergoing 6 rounds of intense chemo. Between Sept of 2020 and March 2021, he spent over 110 days in the hospital for either his treatment or managing the side effects from the chemo.
Spending all that time at the hospital was torturous for him and us as parents. every time we would go there, I felt like I was bringing him to be tortured. It was very rare for our family to be together during that time. We also have a younger son Grady, who was just 11 years old at the time, and it forced him to grow up very quickly. My wife and I made sure that he also never felt alone or forgotten as well and made sure we always talked about how he was feeling and tried to keep as much as a normal life for him.
The things my wife and I saw there are things we will never forget. Seeing kids and parents crying because they were just told the treatment is not working, hearing kids throw up all night in the room next to you because of the treatment they had received, kids falling just from walking because they are so weak. Seeing little kids alone for weeks with no family because there is only one parent in the family, and they have to work and take care of their other kids.
After 6 rounds of chemo, 4 surgeries, 15 lumbar punctures, over 10 blood transfusions, & 15 platelet transfusions, we were blessed with the news that Dylan was in remission! On May 4th, exactly 8 months to the day, Dylan rang the bell signaling the end of his treatment. Dylan has been in remission since April of 2021 and is now 16 and a Junior in HS and living his best life! Last year as a sophomore, he made the JV basketball team and lettered in Lacrosse. He continues to have checkups and scans every 3 months and will continue that for the next year and a half.
Once Dylan was declared in remission, my wife and I started working on how to make a difference from all the deficiencies we witnessed in the pediatric cancer community. We decided to start the Fearless Fighters Foundation; our mission and purpose are to raise money to help with pediatric cancer research and help support families who currently have a child who is battling cancer.
We learned a lot while our son was in treatment; we learned that the government provides 250 Billion dollars annually in funding for cancer research, but only 4% of that money goes toward all pediatric cancers. we learned that kids are still receiving treatments from the 70s and 80’s because there hasn’t been any focus on these types of cancers. We learned that cancer tears family apart and brings everyone to their breaking point and beyond.
Despite that, we also saw the humanity in people supporting us, our family, friends, and even strangers. We felt those people’s support, love, and prayers, but not everyone was as lucky as we were. We started this foundation to help those kids and families that are going through what we did and the ones who don’t have the support we did. We want to let them know they are not alone, and we will be their voice for the ones who laid down their sword and lost their fight.
We officially started the foundation in Sept of 2021, and since then, we have hosted 4 blood drives, held our first golf outing called the Fearless Heroes Classic, and hosted our first 5K called the Fearless Fighters 5K & Fun Run. Our golf outing, Sponsored by Kaulig Giving, sold out with 136 golfers and raised over $40,000 after expenses, our 5K had over 260 people registered and was able to raise over $20,000.
With those events, we were able to accomplish the following:
– Collected enough blood to save the lives of over 720 people and signed up 48 1st time donors.
– Set up a fund in our foundation’s name and donated $25,000 to Akron Children’s Hospital to fund any patient technology needs.
– Sponsored a week at Akron Children’s Hospital in September for Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month; we provided shirts for the families and staff, pizza and ice cream, and had volunteers dressed up as Disney Princesses walk around and visit with all the kids and families.
– Provided over 80 blankets to newly diagnosed kids.
– Provide families with care packages that included a drawstring bookbag, snacks, a Fearless Fighters t-shirt, and gift cards to DoorDash totaling over $5000.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
All in all, our foundation’s first year was a huge success. We have tremendous board members that genuinely care about our mission and these kids and families. In our first year, we were able to raise over $63,000 from the events we held and were able to start making an impact. Setting up the foundation was challenging at times, with all the filings with the state and federal governments and IRS.
Right now, our focus is on spreading our message and mission and getting businesses and private donations so that we have the money we need to accomplish what we have set out to do. We have acquired over 60 sponsors from the events that we have held but we are always in the need of more.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Only 4% annually of all federal funding for cancer research goes toward pediatric cancer. We know 4% is not enough for these kids, and it’s up to private organizations like us to make that difference. To put that in perspective, Americans spend more in 1 week at Starbucks than what is designated for all pediatric cancer research for an entire year.
So many people supported Dylan and our family as he went through treatment. The kindness, love, and support that was shown by family, friends, neighbors, local businesses, elected officials, sports personalities, and even strangers were beyond amazing! We couldn’t have gone through this journey without them. My wife was able to quit my job to stay with Dylan during the week, and I would visit in the evenings and stay on the weekends. He was never alone.
Unfortunately, this was not the case for everyone. We saw firsthand how many families didn’t have the resources, support, and help (like we did ) to allow them to stay together throughout the entirety of their child’s treatment. We also saw how some of these kids go through treatment for years, and some go through treatment that doesn’t work.
As a cancer family that’s been there, we understand the financial and emotional strain this disease causes on every family member. This foundation is so close to our hearts, and we want to help in any way we can! No child or family should ever have to go through this, especially alone.
We are a federally registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. All of our board members and volunteers donate their time and are not compensated in any way with the money we raise. All our profits go towards funding research and supporting families with a child battling cancer.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Ever since we learned about Dylan’s diagnosis, we were blessed with the amount of love, support, prayers, and help everyone provided. I would need a list 100 miles long to name and say thank you to everyone who was there for us. First and foremost, the amazing doctors, nurses, and staff at Akron Children’s Hospital. Without Dr. Stephanie Savelli and everyone on the Oncology floor we would be where we are today. One of the many people that stands out is Ethan Zohn, we met him through a mutual friend and former professional soccer player, Hector Marinaro, who played for the Cleveland Force and Cleveland Crunch.
Ethan was also a former professional soccer player but was most notably a former contestant and winner of season 3 of the reality show Survivor on CBS. Dylan is a huge fan of the show Survivor, and Ethan was one of his favorite contestants. Ethan was also a former 2-time cancer survivor and took the time to meet with Dylan on a Zoom call before he started his treatment.
During his treatment, Ethan would stay in contact with Dylan and us to see how we were doing and try to keep our spirits up. We now consider Ethan a close family friend, and we still keep in contact to this day. We are currently working on some ideas to help raise awareness and money for pediatric cancer.
For our foundation, Andrew Shepperd, the founder of an incredible organization called Project Outrun, was a mentor to me on how to get our foundation set up. Without his help and introductions, I don’t think we would have ever got our foundation off the ground.
My wife Krista and I are blessed to have incredible board members:
JD May- Treasurer
Susan Murtaugh- Secretary
Jenn Eaton- Director of Research and Philanthropy
As well as all of our incredible volunteers. They donate a large amount of their time to help us achieve our mission and goals; without them, this foundation wouldn’t exist and be the success that is it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fearless-fighters.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fearlessfightersfoundation/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fearlessfightersfdn
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/fearless_fdn
