Young Wellington Survivor Hits Leukemia Out Of The Park When a doctor tells you that your three-and-a-half-year-old son has leukemia, your world stops. As Tristan Dawson listened to a doctor diagnose her son Drew with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2012, the medical terms and treatments that he described were lost on her. Shock blocked any ability to fully comprehend what was happening to her little boy. In the days to come, fear and confusion turned to hope and courage as Tristan and her husband Mark found two sources of strength — the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and the Wellington community, where the Dawson family has lived since 2005. A call to LLS shortly after Drew’s diagnosis gave the Dawsons information about Drew’s blood cancer that was an important first step in understanding what the future held. “It was so helpful for me as a mother to know what to expect,” Tristan recalled. What she didn’t expect was the way LLS would become a central part of their lives. Following three years of courageous treatment — periods where Tristan couldn’t pick up her son without him crying in pain — LLS selected Drew as their “Boy of the Year” in 2015. He was celebrated as an inspiration in the fight against blood cancers, attending events held in his honor. “That was when I really understood how powerful LLS is,” Tristan said. “We met so many people from so many different walks of life who are involved with LLS and support the research that will help more children like Drew.” Many Wellington residents who
Andrew Dawson and his mother Tristan with Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr.
support LLS are in the under-12 set. Drew’s school, Elbridge Gale Elementary School, was the No. 1 fundraising school in the State of Florida last year for LLS’s Pennies for Patients program, presented by Olive Garden. The school, inspired by Drew’s story, raised an as-
tounding $21,000 in donations collected for the cause. It’s just one example of the outpouring of support from the Wellington community that the Dawson family has experienced, and why Tristan said, “I can’t imagine living anywhere else.” wellington the magazine | july 2017
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