Parents: John & Cathy Young
Siblings: None
Grandparents:  Shirley & the late Stuart Honderich, Dan & Keith Young
Birthday and Age: July 18, 2001: February 3, 2005
Home:  R. R. # 2, Camlachie, Ontario N0N 1E

Story
Our daughter Hannah was diagnosed with AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia), a very rare and aggressive form of leukemia, on June 28th, 2002. She was only 11 months old. At the time of diagnosis, our happy little baby had a terrible disease that had progressed to a point where she was in immediate danger. Our lives changed drastically that day.

Hannah was admitted to the Children's Hospital of Western Ontario. She endured many rounds of chemotherapy over the next 10 months. She learned to walk and talk while at the hospital. Hannah remained a very happy baby throughout her treatment, and made great friends with the hospital staff and patients she met. On April12, 2003, she finished her treatment protocol, and was considered in remission from her disease. 

Sadly, Hannah relapsed on July 17th, 2003, the day before her second birthday. She started aggressive chemotherapy again, and suffered through many complications before being released from the hospital in early September.

Hannah's best hope for recovery was to have a bone marrow transplant. After waiting for four months, we received the wonderful news that they found an unrelated bone marrow donor that was a perfect match for Hannah.

On January 21, 2004, Hannah got her second chance after a successful bone marrow transplant.  Recovering from a transplant such as this can take a long time, and there are huge risks of complications.  Hannah was extremely brave and was hospitalized for almost 14 months before she gained her angel spirit on February 3, 2005 at the age of 3½ years.  We thank our anonymous donor for giving us an extra year to spend with our daughter!

Favorites
Color:  purple
Nick / pet names:  Hannah Banana
Hospital staff: We had spent so much time in hospital that they became part of our family!
Friends: Too many to mention!
Events / moments:  Loved bath time, traveling in her imaginary truck while in hospital to many places
Songs: Jesus Loves Me; Go Now in Peace; Morningtown Train; Climb, climb up sunshine mountain
Pets: We always talked about having a dog someday … Hannah said she would name him, “Woofer”!
Past time/interests: Playing nurse, cooking, bird watching, singing, giggling
Traits: A smiling, happy girl with definite likes & dislikes!
Books/cartoons: Reading many, many books; watching Wiggles videos & the Mary Poppins movie over and over!

Mom and Dad’s Wish and Dreams for the future:
Our hearts break whenever we hear of a child being diagnosed with cancer, or when we lose another friend from the hospital. Our hope is that more research in pediatric oncology will find better ways to prevent, detect and treat this terrible disease.  We are forever grateful for the assistance from Childcan during Hannah’s journey.