Sa’Mari is a sweet, caring and resilient 5-year-old who loves playing outside with her siblings and her dolls. For years, cancer treatment ruled Sa’Mari’s life, but now that she’s in remission, Sa’Mari is ready to play, paint, draw, sing, dance and make this life all her own.

“I may have had cancer, but cancer doesn’t have me,” she says.

Sa’Mari was just 4 months old when her mom, Samia noticed something strange – Sa’Mari’s left pupil would appear white whenever she took a photo. She didn’t think much of the occurrence until their pediatrician suggested seeing an ophthalmologist. The doctor immediately knew something was wrong, and after a trip to Wills Eye Hospital, it was confirmed – Sa’Mari had retinoblastoma in not one, but both eyes. 

Help kids like Sa'Mari this Giving Tuesday

She began receiving chemotherapy treatment, which successfully shrunk the tumor in her right eye but not her left. After consulting with her doctors, Samia had to make a tough decision: whether or not to remove Sa’Mari’s eye. Her medical team believed that removing the eye would be the best way to prevent the cancer from spreading to her brain. 

The surgery was a success.

Today, Sa’Mari navigates life with a prosthetic eye, but her battle with cancer didn’t end with the surgery. It wasn’t long before the tumor in her right eye grew back. 

She restarted chemotherapy, but again, the tumor shrunk only to grow back a few months later. Going back and forth between their home in Baltimore and their hospital in Philadelphia was grueling both emotionally and financially. Thankfully, the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) Travel For Care program helped ease their burden by providing them with lodging and assisting with gas expenses. 

In 2022, Sa’Mari switched to a type of radiation treatment called plaque. Plaque radiotherapy is a treatment for eye tumors where a small gold disc containing radioactive seeds is temporarily sewn to the outside of the eye to deliver targeted radiation for a few days before being removed.  For Sa’Mari, this treatment worked and she finally started seeing positive results that would last. 

She’s been in remission ever since! 

Now, Sa’Mari is making her way through kindergarten, while Samia dreams of more cures for kids like her daughter. “I hope more awareness is brought to parents about retinoblastoma,” says Samia. “If I had known about the signs sooner, we could have possibly had enough time to save her left eye.”

Sa’Mari has already endured more in her young life than the average 5-year-old, but her family could not be more proud of her joyful spirit. No matter what comes her way, Sa’Mari keeps fighting and finding new reasons to smile. 

Let's Raise $100,000 for Kids with Cancer, Together

December 2 is Giving Tuesday and we have a big goal. It only takes $50 to fund an hour of research, and every hour gives kids more time for their cures to be found. Give today and ALDI will generously match all online donations made to Giving Tuesday fundraisers for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (up to $100,000)! You can make a difference!