BRENHAM, Texas — September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month. According to Adam's Angels Ministry, cancer is the leading cause of death in kids just behind car accidents.
Typically during September Texas District 10 congressman, Michael McCall, and the Children Cancer Caucus hosts kids with cancer in Washington D.C. for the Childhood Cancer Summit. That is how McCaul met Sadie Keller, a young girl who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at age seven.
“Sadie’s taught me how to live my life," McCaul said.
Now at age 13, Keller teamed up with McCaul to co-write a book called Better Angels. It is about Keller's journey to becoming a survivor and talks about the angels she met along the way.
“I wanted to write this book to let people know no matter what they’re going through, any hard times that they can get through it," Keller said. "They just have to look for the angels because they’re all around them.”
Because of COVID-19, the Childhood Cancer Summit could not happen this year. So McCaul and Keller are visiting hospitals and schools around Texas to meet kids with cancer and donate their books.
The two visited Krause Elementary in Brenham because the school has its own experiences with the disease. First-grader and cancer survivor A'vahlynn Cuellar was diagnosed with Wilms' Tumor a few years ago.
Keller said being able to meet kids like Cuellar is special.
“I feel like we have a connection just because we’ve been through something that is so hard and we are both fighting through it,” Keller said.
"In many ways when you read Sadie’s experience and her journey, it's almost like a manual how to get through the experience and turn a negative experience into a positive experience," McCaul said.
Adam’s Angels Ministry is donating multiple copies to schools and libraries in Brenham.