Steven Branfman will talk about his son Jared who passed away in 2005 after fighting a 2 year battle with Spinal Cancer. Since then, the Branfman family has raised over 6 million dollars for Pediatric Cancer research.

Jared Branfman was diagnosed with Spinal Cancer in 2003, when he was 21 years old and an Adolescent and Young Adult patient. After a two year battle, his disease spread to his brain and he unfortunately passed away in September of 2005. On today's podcast, his father Steven will talk about the life that Jared led, which while all too short, was full of accomplishments as he brought joy to so many peopleSteven will highlight his family's passion for bicycling which began while Jared was 4 years old. A year before Jared's passing the Branfman's became involved in the Pan Mass Challenge which is a bicycle event that is considered the largest private charity in the world and benefits cancer patients. Since the mid 2000's Team Kermit, which was named for the frog and was Jared's favorite character growing up, has raised over 6 million dollars for research to help so many kids in their individual cancer fights. A good amount of this 6 million dollars has helped cancers very similar to what Jared had, and that if Jared had the benefit of this research back in the early 2000's, he very well might be alive today.