A Missouri family wants to honor their late, young son after he lost his cancer battle. Jamie Tweedy was diagnosed with Ganglioneuroblastoma, a form of cancer, after being initially diagnosed with Pneumonia. After several years and rounds of treatments, Jamie died in May of 2024 a day after Mother’s Day.
To keep his memory alive, the Tweedy family hopes to fundraise and donate a locomotive train piece to the local city park in Bloomfield, Missouri.
“Jamie absolutely loved going outside, playing with friends, and going to the park with his family. He became extremely attached to a "train park" in the town we lived in before his diagnosis. We would visit the park often and everytime we came back to town we had to stop by it rain or shine, whether he was asleep or awake, and whether he was feeling good or not...we still stopped by,” the fundraiser reads.
More details about the effort, as well as the GoFundMe, can be found on their social media page. You can read more about Jamie's Journey by clicking HERE
To donate please click HERE, the GoFundMe page is set up and ready for your kind donation. The Bloomfield Park Board is already in the process of raising money for equipment at the park. A grant has been written and they hope to hear very soon if they qualified for the grant monies. While there is still more work to be done, they are trying to make a difference with an all volunteer team.
"As a Park Board Member myself, I am excited that Jamie's memory will last forever and on a piece of equipment he would have enjoyed playing on with his friends. I want to thank everyone who has already donated and those that will donate to make the Bloomfield City Park event better," Dee Loflin, owner ShowMe Times, Bloomfield Park Board Member and Bloomfield Chamber Board Treasurer/Member.
Here is what you will find on the GoFundMe Page for Jamie.
Hello my name is Sarah Tweedy and I want to say I truly appreciate you taking the time to learn about our sweet Jamie's story.
In August of 2022, our then 3 year old son was unexpectedly diagnosed with ganglionueroblastoma after unrelated imaging from symptoms caused by the common cold. The initial hospital diagnosed Jamie with possible pneumonia and after additional imaging from a secondary hospital it was confirmed that the "pneumonia" was actually a tumor located in Jamie's thoracic cavity.
Jamie had surgery to resect his tumor in September of 2022, and after biopsies, genetic testing and other labs were completed; we were informed that his cancer was considered low risk low grade. A conservative treatment plan was recommended by 3 different hospitals that included monthly labs and 3 month follow up imaging. At his 3 month follow up imaging, we were hit with the unfortunate news that his ganglionueroblastoma had progressed and was now considered high risk. We transfered hospitals and oncologists immediately and started chemotherapy in February of 2023 after his broviac central line was placed.
Jamie underwent multiple rounds of high dose chemotherapy and immuno therapy from February of 2023-November 2023. His tumor was relentless and continued to grow despite treatments.
He was deemed an unsafe candidate for any form of radiation or additional surgey by hospitals across the U.S. due to the size and exact location of his tumor. After additional genetic testing, we agreed to trial a daily oral chemotherapy pill that ultimately (and thankfully) helped stabilize and slow down the rate of progression. He then took that oral chemo pill daily from Nov of 2023 to the day of his passing May of 2024. Jamie's tumor, though it remained localized, continued to progress slowly in size with each follow up imaging.
In May of this year, I lost the most amazing little boy a mommy could ever ask for. A major part of me was taken away from us the day after Mother's Day and our family has been left completely devastated and heartbroken.
Jamie had the biggest heart and hated to ever see us sad or worried about him. He would try to hide any kind of pain or discomfort just so we wouldn't worry about him. (And he hated taking medicines) Our sweet boy demonstrated the strength that others could only hope and pray they could ever have, and he was an inspiration to all of those around him. Before he became really ill, Jamie absolutely loved going outside, playing with friends, and going to the park with his family. He became extremely attached to a "train park" in the town we lived in before his diagnosis. We would visit the park often and everytime we came back to town we had to stop by it rain or shine, whether he was asleep or awake, and whether he was feeling good or not...we still stopped by.
I am creating this fundraiser on behalf of our Jamie's memory. We were able to modify the layout and design of the "train park" Jamie so loved and once funds are raised, we will be donating the locomotive train piece to the local city park in my hometown in his memory.
After his diagnosis, I created a Jamie's Journey page on Facebook, where I was an open book and updated about his journey often. I haven't made a update in quite sometime due to our loss, but will be updating his page often as we continue down this new path of Jamie's Journey, where we plan to honor our son's memory but also make a difference in other deserving children's lives. Bloomfield is in desperate need for a safe and fun environment for children to explore, learn and grow.
Please consider donating to help our cause. Feel free to follow Jamie's Journey page on Facebook, where I will be completely transparent on were we are with funding, process, and outcomes. We appreciate all the love and support we have been shown the past 2 years and would love to pass it on. Any additional funding raised past goal will go to future park/playground enhancements for locations of need in Jamie's memory.
If you are uncertain about donating via GoFundMe but would still like to donate in another manner, you can reach out to us via private message on Jamie's Journey facebook page and we can make additional arrangements that fit your request.
•Approximately 1 and 260 children will be diagnosed with cancer before the age of 20
•Currently only approximately 8% of federal funding is allocated towards childhood cancer research (previously it was only 4%....OUR KIDS ARE GREATER THAN 8)
•Cancer is the #1 cause of death by disease amoung Children
