The afternoon of February 1, several students heard a compelling story about a former Bell’s courageous fight against cancer, a journey that became the catalyst for the young man’s father to turn sadness into a mission to help others.
In August 2018, Dylan Arnold ’20 lost his battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. His father, Brad Arnold, has since established The Sloth Foundation for Pediatric Cancer (https://slothforpedcancer.org) and has been working with various hospitals to help identify research areas and clinical trials in need of funding.
Current Bells who gathered in the Maker Lab of the James A. Carney Science Center on the first day of February were captivated by Mr. Arnold’s remarks as he provided information about his late son’s journey, about Ewing’s Sarcoma, and his efforts to help fund research.
As noted on the organization’s website, the mission of The Sloth Foundation – so named because Dylan loved sloths – is: “Pursue donations that will fund research and treatments for rare pediatric cancers. Due to the small number of rare pediatric cancer cases, the funding is disparagingly lower than with other cancers. The goal of this foundation is to fund pediatric cancer research and treatments to a level comparable to other pediatric cancers.”
Mr. Arnold’s visit with students was a presentation of Bellarmine’s Science Speaker Series.