Lucas 'Bear' Family Helps Lurie Children's Raise Record-Breaking $425,000

A 5K for Lurie Children's Hospital honored Lucas "Bear" Cervone.

Lucas Bear Walk

DOWNTOWN — Lucas “Bear” Cervone’s family helped Lurie Children’s Hospital gather a record-breaking $425,000 at a 5K charity walk on Sunday.

The money raised at the walk, Move for the Kids 5K, will be put toward the Lurie Children’s Fund. More than 4,000 people participated in the walk, which honored Lucas and his battle with cancer, among others.

Lucas was just 2 years old when he was first diagnosed with leukemia. He fought various forms of cancer for years and appeared to be recovering when doctors found a tumor wrapped around his heart in late April. He died on May 1, just days before his 6th birthday. His family gained international attention for their call for people to send Lucas birthday cards to raise his spirits, with more than 100,000 cards pouring in.

Lucas Cervone was just 2 years old when he was first diagnosed with leukemia.

Facebook/Lucas Bear Heroes

Lucas was supposed to be a “patient champion” at the 5K walk at Soldier Field. He would have helped raise awareness for Lurie Children’s and childhood cancer. Instead, his family and friends donned Lucas “Bear” shirts and wore temporary tattoos that honored him. Lucas’ mother and brother, Rina and Franco, walked during the event while Anthony Cervone, Lucas’ father, thanked attendees for their help.

“We’ve been asked all day long why we’re here today, and I guess my only answer is: We don’t want any more parents to ever feel what we’re feeling right now,” Anthony told a crowd of supporters after the walk. “The emptiness that we have, the pain that we have, I guess all I can hope is that it drives you to bring more awareness to childhood cancer, to support the hospital, to support organizations, to raise money for research, to find a cure.

“I think for us what will keep us going for the rest of our lives is Lucas’ happiness, his joy, his spirit. … It’s tough because he should be standing with us right now. And he’s not. And he never will. But he’s in our heart."

Anthony said his family, who honored Lucas at a funeral and balloon release last week, has not yet determined what they want their son’s legacy to be. They do know that they’ll work so other parents don’t have to go through similar hardships, he said.

“His story had to be told because his life was taken away too soon. … I hope that we can continue to bring more awareness, and I hope that we can bring more attention to the fact that this is not rare. Childhood cancer is not rare …,” Anthony said. “And so, for that fact alone, we need to continue to bring more awareness for Lucas and kids just like Lucas. Again, I don’t want to see any other parents have to go through this, but I know they will.

“We’ll be able to understand their pain, but I would never really want anyone in the world to understand how much it hurts. I miss him. There isn’t a minute that goes by that I don’t miss him. I look at his pictures and I want him back. I keep looking around the corner and hoping that he’s going to come around, but I know he’s not going to. And that’s hard.”

The Cervones plan to attend future 5Ks for Lurie Children’s, which helped treat Lucas, but they’re still deciding on how they’ll be involved with fundraising or awareness in the future. Those efforts will play a large role in their lives, though, Anthony said.

“As we get through this, I don’t know what our mission’s going to be or what my mission’s going to be … . I’m not going to go away. I’m not going to let this be the end,” Anthony said. “Maybe that’s the biggest reason why we’re here is he wouldn’t want us to be sad and wouldn’t want us to stop. He fought for himself and we fought for Lucas. We were his biggest advocates, and that’s our job. So I think that’s what I’m going to continue to do.

“I’m a big voice. I’m not shy. … We’ve had a lot of people tell us Lucas was given to us for a reason. We don’t necessarily know what the reason is, but maybe this is the reason. Maybe his life and his story needs to be told so that a difference can be made.”