Tearms are made up of individuals. Without them, there is no team. Our family has been an unbreakable team since winter of 2007, when our then eight year old son and only child was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

During the course of the last four and a half years, we have been amazed at Cole's perseverance, tenacity, and positive attitude while taking on cancer--- and relapsed cancer at that! We will be very honest & tell you that this journey has broken us, emotionally, many times--- but it's never broken him. At the age of 12, his strength of beyond measurable... Our sweet Cole has nearly died three times. The intense chemo has ravaged his body. His kidneys, liver, pancreas, heart, & lungs are all damaged. The joints in his ankles are deformed. His bones are brittle and break very easily. He has trouble remembering, has very high iron in his blood that we're working to remove, and will most likely never be able to have children because his reproductive organs have been so damaged. He has pressure on his optic nerve which will have long term effects on his vision, he has a sleep disorder caused by all of the chemo, and the cells lining his sinuses have died off and he will always have sinus issues. He has had two ports placed inside his chest with lines running into his heart, had his gall bladder removed, and has nearly 50 spinal taps in his short life. He's gone through over 35 bags of blood, 50 bags of platelets, and 15 bags of antibodies. He's had scopes of his whole body, scans, MRIs, CTs, radiation and endured more needles at 12 than most adults will deal with their ENTIRE life. Did I mention he's 12?

But our Cole is STRONG!

And so we carry that strength with us----and are SO PROUD to announce our decision to participate in the Team In Training Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Door County 100 Mile Bike Ride! We want to take Cole's example of endurance and use it to accomplish this incredible goal. And that's not all: We are doing all of this while losing the 100 pounds we put on during the course of his battle with cancer. Cole is our hero----and all of this hard work is for him!

Please join us in supporting the LLS in it's mission to raise funds to find a cure! Leukemia & lymphoma are among the longest cancer treatments because of the aggressive nature of the diseases. We need a cure NOW! By supporting our ride with a donation, you are helping to raise funds to find that cure, while funding programs to help improve the quality of life of children & adults battling leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, and myeloma.

Thank you for your support!

Nathan & Sarah Kopf

Parents of Colton Brandenburg, Age 12, Relapsed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia SURVIVOR

To follow Cole's journey: www.caringbridge.org/visit/coltons

To follow our fitness journey: www.thinfluenced.com