Dr. Powell showing Emily what leukemia cells look like under a microscope.
Emily with Nurse Karli.
Emily with Dr. June (to her right), Dr. Kalos (to her left), and Dr. June’s wife, Lisa (and their dog Lacey!), when we stopped to visit Dr. June at his office at Penn Medicine.
Tom, Kari, and Emily at the Emily Whitehead Foundation Believe Ball—our first gala that raised over $450,000 for pediatric cancer research.
Emily with Becky and Ariana at the Emily Whitehead Foundation Believe Ball.
Eight years cancer-free.
Most recent family photo: Tom, Kari, Emily, and Luna.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In the retelling of our journey, we did our best to be accurate based on our memories of the events, our journal entries, and interviews. A few things have been changed for privacy or narrative purposes. Thank you to those who took the time to be interviewed and provide input for our book!
Thank you to our incredible CAR T team at CHOP and Penn Medicine: Dr. Stephan Grupp, Dr. Carl June, Dr. Bruce Levine, Dr. Michael Kalos, and everyone who worked on the CAR–T cell therapy. Because of you, we get to see Emily grow up!
To our CHOP doctors, nurses, and staff in the PICU and oncology unit, including Dr. Alexis Topjian, Dr. Robert Berg, Dr. Susan Rheingold, and so many others, thank you for the incredible care you provided for Emily.
To the doctors, nurses, and staff at Hershey Medical Center—without your amazing care, Emily would not have made it to CAR–T cell therapy.
Thank you to Dr. Jim Powell for the care you’ve shown in treating Emily and the guidance you provided. Also, thank you to the Mount Nittany Medical Center ER staff and nurses Kayla and Marsha.
And thank you to the child life specialists, social workers, and music and art therapists (and pet therapy dogs!) who work so hard to make things easier for families trying to navigate a new reality in the hospital.
Although only a few people from Penn State THON and PRSSA are mentioned in the book, there are many who are important to us. We are grateful for the fun and laughter you brought to Emily during the most difficult time of her life. We can’t imagine not having the support of our THON family!
To WME and Hachette Book Group, thank you for helping us make our book a reality. To Danelle, thank you for working with us and bringing our story to life. To Ken Burns, thank you for your guidance and belief in our story. And to Lynn Ann, thank you for your friendship and advice throughout the past eight years.
To our friends, community, and supporters all over the world—we never could have imagined the response we received when we asked for prayers and positive thoughts. Thank you for every prayer and fund-raiser and for every comment on our CaringBridge and Facebook posts. These helped tremendously during our darkest days.
To the CAR–T cell therapy and pediatric cancer families, you inspire us every day to keep sharing our story and raise awareness for less toxic pediatric cancer treatments.
Thank you to our incredible family!
We Believe!
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
The Whitehead Family
Tom, Kari, and Emily Whitehead are cofounders of the Emily Whitehead Foundation, which raises funds and awareness for pediatric cancer immunotherapy research. The foundation was created in honor of Emily, who was diagnosed at age five with an aggressive form of leukemia that failed to respond to chemotherapy. As a last hope, Emily was enrolled in a clinical trial and became the first child in the world to receive the pioneering cancer treatment called CAR–T cell therapy. The therapy worked, and Emily remains cancer free. Emily’s story has been featured in Ken Burns’s PBS documentary Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, HBO’s VICE Special Report: Killing Cancer, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Parents magazine, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, Fox News, CNN, and the Stand Up to Cancer telethon. The Whitehead family travels worldwide as keynote speakers to inspire others and advocate for research funding to develop less-toxic childhood cancer treatments. When they aren’t traveling, Tom works as a journeyman lineman for Penelec of First Energy, and Kari is a registered dietitian and research project manager. Emily attends high school and plans to become an artist or filmmaker. The Whiteheads live in Central Pennsylvania with their chihuahua named Luna.
Danelle Morton
Journalist and author Danelle Morton has collaborated on sixteen books including four New York Times bestsellers.
Praise for Praying for Emily
“Playing in the NFL, I have seen my share of tough individuals who were successful because their opponents were unwilling to match their desire to win. Emily’s battle with cancer showed this exact toughness. She would not give up!… The story of Emily overcoming all odds to beat cancer, the most ferocious opponent, is inspiring and reinforces the power of hope.”
—Jon Condo, retired All-Pro NFL long snapper
“A truly remarkable and uplifting story that is a page-turner and roller coaster ride of emotion all in one! You won’t be able to put it down, and you’ll be thrilled that you didn’t when you get to the triumphant ending.”
—Pamela Oas Williams, film and television producer
“Praying for Emily is a thought-provoking and heartfelt account of what it means to face the impossible with prayer. Tom and Kari looked into the eyes of their sick child and did the one thing that cancer (and most of the world) did not expect them to do, believe. Because of their faith, the Whiteheads were not only able to save their child, but in sharing their personal experience and story of unrelenting hope, will save so many more. I believe,
