Climb for Children with Cancer

This Friday,  join me as I celebrate my 50th birthday by attempting to ascend my 55th and final Colorado14er-  Handies Peak (14,048 feet). Our children. Nico, (10) and Zea, (8), will accompany me on this journey, as will my father, William (79), with whom I ascended my first  Colorado 14er, 43 years ago, at the age of 6.

Please help our family to raise $25,000:
~for my 50th  birthday,
~for my 55th and final of Colorado's 14'ers,
~to help save the lives of 50 children in our Mexico Program , which has been close to my heart for over 5 years.   
~ $50,000 could fund the entire Mexico program for the rest of the year, which will include:

1. Protecting children with cancer from the risk of infection by purchasing personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical staff.
2. Training care givers in improved sanitation practices and reducing the exposure of health care staff to infection.
3. Raising awareness about the early warning signs of childhood cancer.
4. Training nurses online about pediatric oncology. 
5. Providing 800 children with lifesaving anti-fungal drugs to treat infections like Mucormycosis, a rare but frequently fatal fungal infection among pediatric cancer patients. 

Learn more here: Mexico Program 


Should the birth nation of a child with cancer be the primary determinant of whether they live or die?

As a pediatric oncologist for over 15 years and the Co-Chair of the Global Medican Program Committee of World Child Cancer https://www.worldchildcancer.us , I have learned something about the Preventable Survival Gap, and how a child's birth nation can affect their chance of living.  Did you know that that the overall cure rate for childhood cancer in the United States is greater than 80%?  And yet, in many low income countries, the estimated overall survival rate does not exceed 20%.  $1000 saves a life.

World Child Cancer, a global pediatric cancer organization (My wife, Dana Bryson is the Chairwoman of the USA Board ) is working to correct this preventable survival gap.  With 12 projects on 4 continents - from Asia, to Africa, the Balkans, and Latin America --World Child Cancer annually treats over 8000 pediatric cancer patients and trains over 4000 global medical personnel in country.   

It is my honor to complete this endeavor on behalf of World Child Cancer, and represent the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in Denver, CO, who has offered unwavering support of World Child Cancer's efforts.

Scroll down for a photo from last year's family trip to Myanmar to visit our World Child Cancer site in Yangon.

With love and clean hands, 

John, (49)

https://www.worldchildcancer.us/ 





A little about my work:

https://rockymountainkidscancercare.com/physicians/profile/John-VanDoorninck-MD     

I am a pediatric oncologist practicing at the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in Denver, Colorado, USA.  A native of Denver, I studied medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and completed my training in pediatric hematology/oncology at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.  There, I served as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Bone Marrow Transplantation prior to accepting my current position.

My interest in delivering pediatric cancer care in low and middle-income countries took hold in 2007, when I was introduced to the work of World Child Cancer.   I became formally involved in establishing World Child Cancer’s presence in the United States and in 2017 I joined the Global Project Committee, which I now co-chair.  My wife, Dana Bryson, is the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of World Child Cancer USA. We have two children who actively participate in participate in supportive efforts and have travelled to World Child Cancer project sites. 

PHOTO :  Visiting Myanmar's Yangon Children's Hospital. 

PHOTO: My wife,  Dana Bryson, who serves as chairwoman of the Board of Directors of World Child Cancer USA and my children Zea, 8 and Nico, 10.