Meridian recently had two special visitors come to our Teterboro location to check out our facility and aircraft. Jackson Walsh and Camden Forte are not CEOs, bankers, attorneys, or aircraft brokers. They are simply two great kids that are facing battles that no child should have to endure.
At two weeks old, Jackson was diagnosed with neuroblastoma intermediate risk, stage 4. Neuroblastoma is a solid cancerous tumor that begins in the nerve cells outside the brain of infants and young children. For months his Fair Lawn family went through a battery of tests, biopsies, and four rounds of chemotherapy.
The community rallied around the Walsh family, and ‘A Go Fund Me’ page was set up. People brought the family meals and held fundraisers. He was declared cancer-free in January. Now Jackson’s parents have created the JacksonStrong Foundation to help other families facing the same challenges. Jackson’s father is Ryan Walsh, a former Meridian employee who used to work in the Detailing department.
Facing a similar challenge, Jackson’s friend Camden came into this world about 18 months ago, and immediately faced a battle against Cystic Fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is a progressive, genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time. Cam spent his first ten days in the hospital before he was able to go home for the first time.
Since that day, he has spent an additional 10 days in the hospital for IV antibiotics; he takes approximately 20 pills a day to digest his food, antacids twice a day, vitamins, has been on two different antibiotics orally to fight lung infections, and is currently taking six nebulizers that consist of three different types of medicines per day, and chest physical therapy three times a day. Cam’s parents, Thomas and Jacqueline, are taking on the battle against CF by creating TeamCam to support the fundraising efforts of the Great Strides campaign.
Meridian was happy to host these great kids and their families for a day. Jackson and Cam took a tour of Meridian, got to see the planes take off and land from the airport, and enjoyed some time in the cabin of one of our private jets.
If you would like to learn more about their stories or how you can help, please visit their Facebook pages:
JacksonStrong – https://www.facebook.com/Jacksonstrong2015/?hc_ref=SEARCH
Team Cam – https://www.facebook.com/TeamCam831/
