The Cobb family of Houston, Texas, is walking from Disneyland in California to Walt Disney World in Florida in honor of their daughter who passed away from cancer. Jonathan and Jennifer Cobb and their three kids want to raise awareness for childhood cancer and to remember Julia “Ju” Cobb, who passed away at the age of 8 from Ewing’s Sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. When Ju was diagnosed, they decided to focus on the first three letters of the word “cancer” and came up with the phrase Ju Can. Both Jonathan and Jennifer’s mothers passed away from cancer and Jonathan has fought it in the past.
Julia was diagnosed at the age of 6 and fought for a year and a half. After a nearly successful stem cell treatment, she was making improvements when the cancer came back. One of her doctors sent the family on a Make-A-Wish trip to Walt Disney World. Julia woke up sick on the last day, was taken to the hospital and passed away within 24 hours.
So far, the family has been walking for seven months and expect to get to reach Florida by May or early June. They began in August and walk 25 miles each day. Because the children are young, one parent follows behind in their Suburban for breaks. They’re staying in hotel rooms that have been donated to them and are home-schooling the children along the way.
They have raised $18,400 of their $413,000 goal and have walked 2,023 miles. Read more about the Cobb family here.
News source: Orlando Sentinel and My Fox Orlando
Photo credit: My Fox Austin via My Fox Orlando
Leah grew up in a little farming town in Illinois, right on the Mississippi River. Her Chicago-born husband, David, left the city for her, and they're now raising their three children (Jacob, Jonah and Lydia) just 12 miles from her hometown. As the Senior Editor of the DIS (wdwinfo.com), Leah spends a lot of time writing about, reading about, and discussing Disney. So, it should come as no surprise that one of her family's favorite ways to spend time is going to Walt Disney World and traveling on Disney Cruise Line. She also enjoys shopping, watching movies with her husband and doing crafts with and for her kids.
