BOSTON (WHDH) - After almost 40 years, Cameron Smith returned to the Dana-Farber cancer institute to remember the time he spent there as a young child.
In 1961, at just 14-months-old, Smith was diagnosed with childhood cancer and given just months to live.
His parents took him to the institute and he was treated by Dr. Sydney Farber himself. There they told Smith’s parents that they would do everything they could to help their child. This included the then-experimental chemotherapy.
“I don’t remember the initial treatments,” Smith said. “I remember all the x-rays, all the blood work, all the follow-ups, all the trips from Connecticut.”
Smith’s last treatment was in 1978 when he was 18 years old and he’s never forgotten the perseverance of his doctors in his treatment.
Smith also said he was proud to see how the institute has built upon Farber’s legacy.
“They have embraced that philosophy, it takes a village to cure a child,” he said.
His favorite part about his experience, Smith said, was receiving Red Sox tickets after every treatment. A tradition that Dana-Farber continues today.
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