This is an I-Heart podcast.

And we return to our American stories.

Up next, a story on a special little boy and the legacy he created, the Christopher

Foundation, based out of Neosho, Missouri, an organization that seeks to raise awareness

and research on pediatric cancer and support both patients and their families. Here to tell the story

is Christopher Cooley's mother, Kathy.

Christopher was a normal boy by every sense of the word.

He loved to play in the dirt.

He loved to do all boy things, climb, get in trouble, and just be a little boy.

When Christopher was three, Christopher started pausing while he was playing and telling us he was having backache,

which was odd to us, and I mentioned it to the pediatrician.

I said, Christopher saying he has back pain and stops playing.

And he said, that's not normal for a three-year-old.

He said, let's check it out.

So they checked his kidneys.

They did some different things.

And they finally did a cat scan and they told us in Joplin that he had a hernia.

So they made arrangements to see a surgeon in Kansas City and we drove up there. They wanted

an MRI so we had to be there very early.

So we left when it was still dark outside with an overnight bag for all of us.

It was his dad, Tim, me, and Christopher.

And we had an MRI and we went back to the surgery waiting room.

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