The Kostoffs Need Your Help

Shawn, Lauren (Wenrich) & the Kostoff Family need your help as their lives have been completely flipped upside down. On January 10th, they received news that their son, Samuel (Sammy), had to have surgery to remove a tumor from his brain. As they begin to navigate their new normal back at home, Sammy will need daily occupational, physical and speech therapies. Lauren and Shawn are both teachers and due to the nature of working in schools are unable to take extended leave from work to care for Sammy’s daily needs along with caring for their two other small children, Scotland (5) and Lawrence (3). They recently moved back to Wallingford, where Lauren grew up, and love calling this community home. Lauren is a teacher at Strath Haven High School in Wallingford Swarthmore School District while Shawn teaches in Delaware but spends his free time coaching many local kids in Wallingford's youth soccer. They need their community more than ever right now. Sammy, a sweet 7-year-old 2nd grader at NPE who loves the Phillies & Eagles more than anything needs your prayers. He loves to spend his days playing sports with his friends, watching Phillies re-runs and has hopes of attending Opening Day in March.

In November of 2023 Sammy started vomiting off and on. It was not frequent and seemed to only happen at school. As time went on it was noted that the vomiting usually coincided with headaches and started to become more frequent and severe. After many visits to Sammy’s primary care doctor, multiple other specialists and lots of blood work they were told it may be neurological. Sammy had a CT scan and was immediately admitted after the neurologist reviewed the scan due to a kiwi size tumor in Sammy’s brain. On Thursday, January 11, 2024, a wonderful surgeon at Neumor’s Childrens Hospital successfully removed the tumor but the biopsy revealed that it was cancerous. While they believe they removed the whole tumor, they are unsure of next steps. Sammy was finally able to join his sister and brother at home after 10 days in the hospital.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts, prayers and generosity. I know Lauren and Shawn would be the first people in line to help others in need and I am sure this community will show up for them. I will be updating the GoFundMe with information as Lauren and Shawn are comfortable to share.