CNN correspondent Rene Marsh shared a message following the death of her 2-year-old son that cuts like a knife. Just two days after the journalist shared the news of her child’s untimely passing, she had to celebrate her birthday without her little one.
“I always expected you to help me blow the candles,” Marsh wrote to her late son, Blake.
Rene Marsh Said She Picked Out Her Son’s Gravesite on Her Birthday This Year After Her Son Lost His Battle with Pediatric Cancer.
“Instead today we pick out your gravesite,” Rene Marsh captioned an image, lamenting the loss of her baby boy.
In the photo shared on Instagram, Marsh can be seen celebrating Blake’s first birthday.
To honor her son’s memory, Marsh shared that she plans to “do more for children like Blake.”
“As cruel and unnatural as this feels, there are more children with brain cancer whose doctors have told their parents there’s ‘nothing more we can do’ ‘meanwhile other children are experiencing toxicity from chemo drugs used in children but designed for adults,” she explained in her heartfelt post. “My birthday wish today is to collectively do more.”
“My birthday wish is to wipe out pediatric cancer,” she told her followers on Instagram, encouraging them to donate to causes that will help make her wish come true.
“Pediatric brain cancer is the deadliest form of pediatric cancer,” she said. “Cancer is the #1 cause of death by disease in children after infancy, yet the U.S. only spends 4% of its annual cancer research budget on pediatric cancer.”
In conclusion, she shared a link for people to donate to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation in honor of her son.
Just two days before her birthday, the journalist shared that her son had lost his battle to cancer. “To my dear sweet Blake aka ‘Blakey,’” Marsh wrote at the time. “In your 25 months on earth you taught me how much strength I had stored up in reserve that I didn’t know I had. You taught me endurance. You taught me a depth of love I have never experienced. You inspired me to keep going when I wanted to give up. You helped me prioritize what is truly important in this life.”
“I am forever changed because of you, my son,” she wrote of her son whom she shared with her husband, Kedric Payne.
Marsh wrote that she wished “we had more time together,” however, she said that she is “grateful” for every day with her son. “The good times we shared are forever in my heart,” she added, noting that she is “dedicated to fighting pediatric cancer for the rest of my life.”
“I will do it not just to spare other parents from this unbearable pain but I will do it to forever honor you, Blake. Your life was not in vain my sweet angel,” she promised. “Mommy loves you and I look forward to holding and kissing you when we meet again.”
In February, Marsh reported in an opinion piece on CNN’s website that Blake’s cancer had been in remission for six months before they were “blindsided” by its return in November 2020.
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After announcing the death of her baby boy on Thursday, Marsh also thanked his doctors for their care on Twitter. “Thank you to all the doctors and nurses at #JohnsHopkins who cared for and loved Blake over the past year and a half,” she said.
We know that this must be the most difficult time for Marsh and her family. However, we know this mom’s pledge to turn her pain into action fighting pediatric brain cancer will help other families touched by the devastating disease.
We encourage you to donate in Blake’s honor here. May his memory be a blessing for other families who are touched by pediatric cancer.
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