DOING GOOD
Dig This!
Kids get their hands on some big machines – all for a good cause BY
PAUL
ANTHONY
ARCO
T
his September, a little boy named Zachary is planning on coming to Ashburn, climbing into the seat of a giant backhoe and operating the very grown-up machinery like a champ. It will be a moment his parents could scarcely have imagined three years ago. In 2021, Jesse and Emily Vizcaino of Chantilly were busy raising their three young boys during the COVID pandemic. Despite being careful, Zachary, their middle child, became tired and pale and experienced an occasional low-grade fever for nearly three weeks. The couple became more concerned when their pediatrician sent Zachary to the emergency department for additional testing. The results rocked Zachary’s parents, who called the news soul-crushing. But it wasn’t COVID-related. Three-year-old Zachary was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), the most common type of leukemia in children, which happens when the bone marrow produces too many abnormal B-lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell that helps fight infections. “There was the shock of the diagnosis, and then fear and worry set in,” Emily Vizcaino said. “Fortunately, we had the support of so many people – friends, family – by our side.” According to the American Cancer Society, about 9,600 children in the United
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Above: An excited child operates a piece of construction equipment at last year's The Big Dig in Ashburn. Right: Photos of Zachary Vizcaino, undergoing treatment and playing at a Big Dig event.
States under age 15 will be diagnosed with cancer this year, and about 1,190 children are expected to die from the disease. The encouraging news is that thanks to major treatment advances, 85% of children with cancer now survive five years or more. Zachary spent nearly 2½ years fighting the cancer, including several hospital stays at Inova L.J. Murphy Children’s Hospital in Falls Church and months of chemotherapy at Inova Schar Cancer’s Pediatric Infusion Clinic in Fairfax. His parents say Zachary, 7, is now in remission and looking
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