I NEED YOUR HELP IN RAISING MONEY FOR AN INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT CAUSE!

  On October 10th of this year, I'll be participating in what has been described as "The Most Grueling One-Day Race in the World" at the International Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. The race consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run, all in a row. 140.6 miles total!

By participating as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team in Training (TNT), I am raising funds to help find cures and fund treatments for blood cancer patients. I will cover all of my own costs to participate, so any and all donations will go directly to LLS and be fully tax deductible. 

I will be running this particular race in honor of 2 very special people

DAVID PUBLICOVER: David and I were good buddies beginning back in kindergarten at Fort Worth Country Day School. He was the strongest, fastest, and one of the biggest kids in our class. I remember hearing that David had Leukemia, but didn't really understand what that meant. We were just kids, what did we really know? David and I did the regular kid stuff together like spending the night at each other's houses and exploring through the woods on the weekends. I remember how he had to miss about half of each school year for one form of treatment or another, or stay clear of school any time another student had the chicken pox or flu. Over the years, we all saw David shrink physically from all of the therapies and treatments into a shadow of his former self, but I never remember hearing David complain even once. He was one of the most positive and courageous people I've ever known. He passed away during our junior year, but it happened over spring break, long before the time of cell phones or social media. Most of us were on various trips with our families and didn't hear the news until we returned the following week, too late to pay our final respects. After all these years, it will be my distinct honor to run for David. 

JACK DUFFY: I met Jack's father, Brad back in the 80's at Arlington Heights High School.  His son Jack was born in 2002 and diagnosed with ALL - acute lymphoblastic leukemia at just 7 months of age.  Then he began a journey which included chemotherapy, many hospital stays, almost daily doctor visits, needles, spinal taps, central lines, ports, blood & platelet transfusions.  And that was just in the first year of his life. Jack went into remission but the leukemia came back almost immediately after treatment stopped. His only option at that point was a bone marrow transplant and his older brother, Ryan, was a perfect match. The bone marrow treatment consisted of even higher doses of chemotherapy and full body radiation as well as more of the above. The bone marrow went smoothly but again the leukemia came back quickly. Jack lost his battle a little over 2 years after it began. He passed away on November 17, 2004. I am honored to run for Jack Duffy and hope that funds raised here in his honor prevent kids in the future from ever having to endure what Jack went through. 

Your donation will help fund treatments that save lives every day; like immunotherapies that use a person’s own immune system to kill cancer. You may not know it, but every single donation helps save a life with breakthrough therapies such as these. In 1960, the survival rate of a child diagnosed was in the 14% range for 5 years. Today, its closer to 60% because of cutting-edge medical research and funding just like this. There is still vital work to be done.

Patients need these cures and treatments, and they need our support. 

Please make a donation in support of my efforts with Team In Training and help get us all closer to a world without blood cancers. I'll take care of the training. Please help me with the fundraising!

Thank you!

Jon Bonnell