Hello, I am Juan W. Winstead, the older brother of Yahael Winstead. My family's raising money to support my parents as they make adjustments to properly care for my 4-year-old sister, Yahael, who was recently diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).

Up until Oct. 20, Yahael has lived what most would call a normal childhood. Being 4 years of age, she had just begun school this year, enrolling in Pre-Kindergarten. On the 20th of October, she appeared to have cold-like symptoms and was taken to a doctor, who believed she had a virus. Our parents, Vernon & Tanya Winstead, kept her home on antibiotics, hoping things would change. Despite their efforts, the symptoms were not getting better. On Friday, Oct. 24, Tanya decided to take her to an ER at a neighboring city's hospital for a different opinion. The problem seemed to be much larger than our family expected. Yahael was diagnosed with Leukemia and flown, with mom Tanya, to VCU Children's Hospital to receive immediate medical care.

In the matter of 24 hours, we went from believing that Yahael had caught a bug from another child to the reality of her being stricken with cancer. The team at VCU has made it clear that she will need at minimum 8 months of inpatient chemotherapy, with a possibility of 12 months. The team at VCU has worked tirelessly to stabilize Yahael with much success and has developed a comprehensive plan for her recovery. Thus far, we have been extremely grateful for the care that Yahael is receiving.

A reality of this is that our mom, Tanya, hasn't left the hospital since taking Yahael to the ER on Friday, Oct. 24. She works as a parole officer in our hometown and has taken leave to be with our dear sister. Our dad is a disabled vet who has been driving to and from the hospital, an hour each way, daily to check on things at home and run errands to keep up with everything.

The purpose of this page is to offer support for them financially. We have spent much time in prayer as a family. Yahael is the youngest child of 7 siblings; we call her the baby. We have prayed and are offering our all to help our parents through this. But we are aware that there may be more who want to help. Not limited to finances, if you can leave prayers, words of encouragement, anything to make this journey one of triumph, we appreciate you. One thing that reigns true through crowdfunding platforms is that we thrive best in community.

In closing, I want to encourage you all. Be the community that bands together to show love and compassion to those who need it most. Yahael is doing her part, pressing forward! This is simply our opportunity to give her mom and dad the support they need during this time!

Yahael's Big Brother,

Juan W. Winstead