2019 was a year we will never forget. Our son Eliot was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive pediatric cancer of the central nervous system. The pandemic hit soon after, and we journeyed parallel to a world turned upside down.

Fast forward a couple of years later, and Eliot grew, expanded, learned, and finally went back to the other side of the ocean to visit his Spanish family. We were very fortunate and grateful to have had this opportunity.

We had met many others who lost their children to this disease, and I couldn’t help but feel I had to do more. So, in order to give a voice to those who had fought and lost their battle, along with those who continued to fight, as well as the survivors, I walked the Camino de Santiago starting on July 7, 2022, from Saint-Jean Pied de Port in the southwest of France and ending in Burgos, Spain around July 22nd.

The Camino is a pilgrimage that one can walk all over Europe, with Santiago de Compostela as the final destination.

To give a voice and a face to these warriors and families who truly are a Band of Brothers and Parents, I took requests to leave an initialed stone along the trail, to give honor and hope to a loved one, to free a burden, and to try and manifest a miracle.

I wrote the names of donors and warriors in stone, set it on the Camino, photographed the spot, and sent it back with a GPS location. Every donation helped Band of Parents support critical research and clinical trials to fast-track a cure for neuroblastoma.

Donats were made in honor of all children battling neuroblastoma. Together, we were bound by hope that one day, no child would die of this disease.

Thank you,

Jameth Mikan