Round 3: Help Sammy Knock Out Leukemia (AML)
Donation protected
To every wonderful human who lands on this page -
My name is Emily, and I’m one of Sammy Smith’s many sisters (her favorite, without debate). I’m writing this from the windowsill, watching her nap while getting yet another blood transfusion -- something she’s been doing almost weekly for the past year and a half to simply survive.
Over the last few years, Sammy’s faced multiple cancers with barely a breath in between. And as of Monday, June 2, unfortunately, her fight begins again.
For anyone who is new here or needs a refresher -- here’s what the last 3 years have looked like for her:
- January 2023: Sammy had a malignant 8-pound teratoma removed from her ovary -- a type of tumor that only had a 1% chance of being cancerous. Surgery and chemo knocked it out.
- January 2024: After months of unexplained pain and fatigue, she was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) -- a rare and serious bone marrow cancer caused by the chemo from her first diagnosis (which only happens in 2% of cases.) She underwent more chemo and a grueling stem cell transplant in September 2024.
- May 2025: Just last week, we got the devastating and frustrating news that her MDS has progressed to Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) -- a more aggressive, harder-to-treat cancer. She now has to go through three months of chemotherapy, and upon remission, she’ll need to face another stem cell transplant.
At this point, the statistics clearly don’t apply to her -- and I’ve stopped trying to make sense of them. My sister isn’t here to be average. She’s here to beat this.
If you know her, you know she’s not someone you pity. She’s someone you stand behind, because she’s too damn stubborn to give up. She’s fierce, independent, and wildly protective of the people (and animals) she loves.
Right before all this started, Sam moved from New Jersey to Natural Bridge, Virginia, and fell in love with her quiet country life. She became a regular vendor at the Natural Bridge Farmers Market, where she made friends, found purpose, and slowly built a life surrounded by peace and animals -- her cats, dogs, bearded dragons, tortoise, baby boa, and more birds than we can count in her aviary. They’re not just pets. They’re what she considers her family.
After her transplant last fall, we all let out a sigh of relief, hoping the nightmare was over. But now, we’re back at the beginning -- and this time, it’s her toughest fight yet.
Through it all, Sam has kept showing up -- for her animals, her community, her family. But she hasn’t been able to work in nearly three years, and with this relapse, she won’t be able to return anytime soon.
Your donation will help Sammy:
- Pay the bills she’s fallen behind on during years of illness
- Keep her home, which means everything to her healing
- Travel back and forth to appointments and treatments in Roanoke and Charlottesville which aren’t close to her home
- Feed and care for her animals, who are just as much a part of her recovery as the medicine is
She’s not asking for this, but I am. Because right now, she needs to focus on surviving, and absolutely nothing else. Sam doesn’t hope to beat this. She plans to. Because she always has.
Every donation, no matter the size, helps lift the weight off her shoulders. It helps her breathe a little easier, feel a little more supported, and stay exactly where she belongs -- fighting like hell for a triumphant return to her home and animals.
Other ways you can help:
- Donate blood (it’s quite literally keeping her alive right now)
- Send kind words or pictures of your animals
- Purchase something from her Amazon wishlist as she will need all new sterile clothing for her transplant
- Foster any of her animals while she’s away from home
Thank you, truly, for being in her corner.
With love and gratitude,
Emily (or as my crazy sister likes to refer to me lately - cricket)
Organizer and beneficiary
Emily Smith
Organizer
Natural Bridge, VA
Samantha Smith
Beneficiary