Childhood Cancer

You are here

Mia Garito

  • Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

Click the images to see them larger above!

Learn more about
Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

Get the facts about Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and how our research projects are making a difference.

Learn More »

The Fight of Her Life

Mia was 7 years old, with long chestnut brown hair and a smile like a light, when the ambulance brought her to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

It was November 28, 2005. The week before had been Thanksgiving with her family, her loving parents, her two little brothers, James and Sage, and her best friend — her dog CiCi. Now she was on a stretcher, being admitted into intensive care. The diagnosis was devastating. She had acute myeloid leukemia (AML). This rare form of leukemia affects only 500 children a year. The cancer was attacking Mia's blood and bone marrow.

Thus began the fight of her life.

She wasn’t alone. For children and families facing pediatric cancer, there is no brighter beacon of hope than Children’s Hospital. The Cancer Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia cares for more children with cancer than any other general pediatric hospital in the nation. And the researchers here are tirelessly searching for a cure.

Mia would miss two years of school, two years of childhood. The Hospital would become a home. Child Life specialists would play with her and give her lessons to keep her education up to date. Nurses cared for her like family. Doctors used the best medicine available. Her brothers and friends would visit and play. Her grandpa would visit too, always bringing her the orange cream-pops that she loves.

Mia endured every challenge, every elation and every disappointment that cancer treatment brings. She has lost her hair, her eyelashes, but never her spirit.

She survived brutal rounds of chemotherapy, going into remission only to relapse. She has undergone two bone marrow transplants. Her 18-month-old brother, James, was her donor, making him the youngest sibling stem-cell transplant in Children's Hospital’s history. She calls him her angel.

She worries about her white cells. She worries about her red cells. She worries about her platelets. She worries about her monocrytes. She worries about how she looks. She worries about her odds.

But today, Mia is still with us. Today, her counts are good. Today, she can go to the movies. Today, she has her childhood back.

Next Hero

Donate in Honor of Mia Today!

Your donation helps to fund critically-needed research to find better treatments and cures for children with cancer.

Childhood Cancer Heroes

More Heroes

VIEW ALL HEROES
Adalee loves 4H and show animals. While she was helping with the lambs and pigs one day, her parents noticed she had multiple bruises. Before she knew it, Adalee was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Today, she is in treatment fighting.
Arianna is a firecracker. She is loving, empathetic, and bold. At a mere 13 months old, Arianna was diagnosed with neuroblastoma and began intensive treatment with some life-threatening complications. Today she is NED and her family raises money for ALSF.
grayson
Grayson was a witty, intelligent kid who loved playing in his band, Minecraft, board games and so much more. He was diagnosed with anaplastic astrocytoma and after 23 months of treatment, sadly passed away.
Elijah's favorite football team is the Dallas Cowboys, he's musically talented, and likes working with his dad. Before diagnosis, Elijah's parents thought the pain he was suddenly feeling in his leg was from the growing pains of being a teenager.
VIEW ALL HEROES