SBU News
SBU News > Community > A Brave Girl Eases the Journey for Fellow Cancer Patients

A Brave Girl Eases the Journey for Fellow Cancer Patients

Sophia Espiritu (center) surrounded by her family and Tamarac Elementary School principal, Michael Saidens, as she donates hundreds of ComfyChemo shirts.

Sophia Espiritu, a pediatric cancer patient at Stony Brook Cancer Center, didn’t want any gifts for her 10th birthday. Instead, she had her heart set on gifting to other kids like her.

Sophia Espiritu (center) surrounded by her family and Tamarac Elementary School principal, Michael Saidens, as she donates hundreds of ComfyChemo shirts.
Sophia Espiritu (center) surrounded by her family and Tamarac Elementary School principal, Michael Saidens, as she donates hundreds of ComfyChemo shirts.

With the help of her family and Tamarac Elementary School in Holtsville, NY, Sophia was able to raise nearly $13,000 dollars to buy ComfyChemo shirts for other pediatric patients at Stony Brook Cancer Center. The ComfyChemo shirts allow easy access to chemotherapy ports, while being colorful and comfortable. Word of her fundraiser even reached New York Islanders captain Anders Lee and player Matt Martin, who donated 100 shirts for her cause. As a result of Sophia’s cause, a total of more than 700 ComfyChemo shirts were donated.

A large portion of the shirts were given to the Stony Brook Cancer Center on December 5th, Sophia’s 10th birthday. To thank her for her generosity, Stony Brook’s Child Life staff helped Sophia’s mom, Melody, throw her a Harry Potter themed birthday celebration in the lobby of the Cancer Center.

To read more about Sophia’s story, click here.

Related Posts

1 comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe to News

Get the latest word on Stony Brook news, discoveries and people.

Archives

Get the latest word on Stony Brook news,
discoveries and people.