My name is Brooke Shanabrough, and I’m creating this GoFundMe for my identical twin sister, Paris Shanabrough, who at only 22 years old has recently been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).

Just weeks ago, our lives looked completely different. My sister was a healthy, active 22-year-old who had just graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Throughout college, she was also an athlete and captain of the Penn State cheerleading team. She had spent years working incredibly hard toward her dream of becoming a doctor and was preparing to apply to medical school this summer.

Then, completely unexpectedly, everything changed.

Instead of spending this summer preparing for medical school and beginning the next chapter of her life, she is now facing something none of us could have imagined: fighting leukemia.

Despite everything that has happened, her dream of becoming a doctor has not changed. This diagnosis may have temporarily changed her timeline, but it has not changed the future she has worked so hard for. She is determined to beat this, recover, return to the life she loves, and continue pursuing a career in medicine as soon as she is able.

Right now, our family’s biggest priority is making sure she can put all of her energy into getting healthy again. Unfortunately, cancer treatment comes with an enormous financial burden on top of everything she is already going through. Between treatment, hospital stays, medications, insurance costs, transportation, meals, time away from work, and the many unexpected expenses that come with leukemia treatment and recovery, those costs can quickly become overwhelming.

We are hoping to raise $50,000 to help ease some of that burden. Every dollar raised will help with expenses associated with her treatment and recovery and give her one less thing to worry about while she fights to get her health and her life back.

As her identical twin sister, it is almost impossible to put into words what it feels like to watch the person who has been beside me for our entire lives go through this. We have shared nearly every milestone together, and I never imagined that at 22 years old, one of those moments would be watching my twin fight cancer. If I could take this fight from her, I would in a heartbeat. Since I can’t, I am going to do everything I can to make sure she never has to fight it alone.

My sister has spent so much of her life working toward a future where she could one day care for other people as a physician. Right now, she is the one who needs people in her corner.

If you are able to donate, no amount is too small. And if you aren’t in a position to donate, simply sharing her story can make an incredible difference. Every donation, share, prayer, message, and act of support means more to our family than we could ever adequately express.

This is not the end of the future she worked for. It’s an unexpected chapter in her story, and we are determined to help her get through it and back to everything she loves.

Thank you for supporting my sister, believing in her future, and standing beside her as she fights AML. ❤️