what is teamsam?

team sam is about a little boy's (and his family's) fight against neuroblastoma. sam was originally diagnosed in january 2005 and relapsed in august 2006. his story and his family's fight is simply amazing. you can read sam's full story here.

i originally met sam through kiele's deaf itinerant teacher because she works with sam too (sam became hearing impaired from one of his treatments). i've talked to sam's mom and dad, margot and neil, through email a few times and offered to photograph sam, donating my time and images to them. we tried to arrange a session but it was so hard because sam would have a treatment, not feel good, etc. i felt so bad because this is something i really wanted to do for sam and his family. well, one day while i was at the school photographing kiele's classmates, i was able to pull sam from his class and take a few pics of him too. the teacher was so excited and supportive...she even gave us a baby chick to take outside with us. it was so great to be able to finally do this for sam, margot and neil...and totally surprise them. i'm sure sam told his mom and dad about the crazy lady who pulled him out of class to take his picture...but that's all they would have known.

i've now been in contact with margot and neil more and they are simply amazing and inspiring...an inspiration to each and every one of us. their dedication and fight is beyond words. neil has even initiated a parent driven project, the magic water project, dedicated to finding and funding treatments for pediatric cancer. it's amazing what these parents have accomplished. on june 11th, a team of eight cyclists will be doing a 24-hour race across america challenge. truly, such an amazing family. please check out sam's site and the magic water project and consider donating to help the fight against pediatric cancer. every penny will help.

i also just learned that the boy in renee c. byer's 2007 pulitzer prize winning photos died of neuroblastoma. in case you missed my previous blog post, you can see her photos here. they're amazing, yet painfully evocative.

ETA (may 27th): as the team sam / magic water project's official photographer, i will hopefully be doing much more for them in the near future!!!