Fighting Children's Cancer in a Kilt and a Cape
SuperHeroes In Kilts
Funds Raised for
St. Baldrick's Since 2018
$834,486
Julia’s favorite inspirational quote - "You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have."
Julia Janes was the very paragon of a virtuous, modern person, as her grandfather professed. She was motivated to be a teacher by family and her teachers from elementary school through high school and college. Julia was always a quiet leader, who lead by example. Others often remarked that she was an old soul. She always did what she knew was right. Julia loved life, family and friends!
The summer after her sophomore year of high school Julia was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma. Life for Julia and all of us, would never be the same. Her doctors said the protocol was to hit the cancer, “Fast and hard.” She had almost a year of harsh chemotherapy designed for adults. Serious complications included mouth sores, fevers, and neuropathic pain. Among the more serious complications was ARDS, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (double pneumonia, a complete white out on the x-ray). The doctors put her in a medically induced coma. ARDS almost took her life but she made a miraculous recovery. She had to learn to walk, talk, swallow liquids and eat solid foods again. She battled cancer and its complications all while she maintained her status as an honor student, completing her junior year at home and in the hospital. Julia’s character empowered her to remain strong, positive and compassionate to other pediatric cancer patients during her battles against cancer.
An early indication of her concern for others was evident by her participation with her high school and community. She was an NHS member and played flute in the band. Along with the inspiration of her teachers, coaches and Operation Snowball, Youth Commission and soccer, Julia strengthened her character and developed a desire to care for others. Julia was an academic and music tutor to children in the community as well as in college; she worked with children in Snowflake and Snowball where she advanced to a leadership position. She was a soccer player for years and later she was a soccer referee for the park district. While in high school she had her first experience in a St. Baldrick’s shave event with her oncologist.
Upon graduation, now free from cancer, she attended Bradley University in Peoria where she formed the first ever college chapter of CureSearch, an international group of doctors trying to cure pediatric cancers. She spoke in public to raise awareness of pediatric cancer, both at Relay for Life and in her interview for a popular television talk show in Peoria. She attended another St. Baldrick’s event at Bradley where her friend shaved her head in honor of Julia. She was in the service sorority Episol Sigma Alpha (ESA). Julia volunteered at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Peoria. She was freshman student of the year and well on her way to becoming the third grade teacher that she always wanted to be.
During winter break of her sophomore year Julia was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, AML, which was a result of the necessary and harsh treatments she underwent while battling Ewing’s Sarcoma. Julia called her brother, Michael, shed a few tears and said, “OK, let’s do this!” Soon after we found her downloaded positive quotes from Pinterest. Julia and her mom made a collage of these quotes, which traveled to and from the hospital. After more chemotherapy, dialysis due to kidney failure and three stem cell transplants, Julia’s body could take no more and the doctors told us to go home and make memories. Even Julia, with her positive and never give up attitude, could not beat The Beast. She died on November 14, 2013, four and a half years after her initial diagnosis, at the age of 20.
While preparing to spend her two weeks at home she decided to donate her savings to pediatric cancer research through the Cure It Foundation, an organization formed by her oncologist, Dr. Jason Canner, to fight kids’ cancer. Even facing death, Julia thought of kids and she did not want one more child to fight cancer like she did.
As Julia’s Legacy of Hope, we raised over $100,000 for kids with cancer, all in Julia’s honor. We helped to fund the Every Child initiative with the Cure It foundation. We join St. Baldrick’s to better meet our mission and Julia’s wish, which is to fund childhood cancer research. Our funds will support research in sarcomas, secondary cancers, and blood cancers, focusing on but not limited to the Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) population. This population is severely underfunded, and desperately needs less toxic and more effective, curative protocols.
Meet The Janes Family
My name is Jeff, co-founder of Julia’s Legacy of Hope.
I was born Chicago and raised in Palos Park in 1960, and I lived a charmed life, punctuated by challenging events. We went on family vacations to Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Florida. Then, just before the age of 10, my dad died from lung cancer. He was only 49, far too early to die and much too early for me to be without my father. This was my introduction to cancer. I loved baseball, basketball, hockey, and football. My best friend and I frequently played sports against my older brother. I loved walking the hilly forests of Palos Park, where I got my love of geology. Then I met the most amazing person, a girl from Carl Sandburg High School, by the name of Leslie. We had a great relationship, graduating from Sandburg, Moraine Valley Community College, and Northern Illinois University together. We got married in 1985 and became teachers, myself at Sandburg and Leslie in Frankfort. We worked very hard and took turns completing our masters degrees while raising a family.
My name is Leslie. I am the co-founder of Julia’s Legacy of Hope. I am the oldest of four sisters and I was born in Chicago. My mom, dad and four sisters moved to Orland Park when I was 11 years of age. Before that time, at the age of 7, I was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, JRA, at the University of Chicago and spent a great deal of time in the hospital during my childhood years. I know all too well what it is like for a child to be in a children’s hospital and how this experience has contributed to my desire to be a teacher of young children. The kindness and special care given to me by my medical staff and Childlife teachers contributed greatly to my love of learning and my desire teach young children. Also, during this time, I was very interested in my father’s profession as a college professor. I enjoyed going to classes with him when I was not in school. My mother was also a very important role model in my life. She was a very loving and caring mother to all four of her girls. Both of our parents taught us how to be strong, caring independent, and successful women. During my high school years my mom had a cancer called Hodgkins Lymphoma. It was a very traumatic time for our family and thankfully my mom survived. Sadly, at the age of 49, she passed away from an aneurism, when our first born, Michael, was only 2 months old.
My family moved to Orland Park where I attended 6th grade followed by junior high as well as high school. In my junior year I met Jeff and we dated throughout the rest of high school and college. We were so in love and recognized by many as ‘that couple’ in our high school hallways and college campus. We both graduated from Northern Illinois University and we both became teachers in the southwest suburbs. We followed through on our plan to get married after college. Five years after we were married and established in our teaching careers, our first child, Michael was born in 1990. Our families were elated, especially my family of only girls. Mike was the first boy and he was treated like a prince. He had two adoring grandmothers and a very proud grandfather. Mike always learned best by doing. He enjoyed socializing, being a fantastic keeper in soccer, and an amazing drummer in both his junior high and high school bands. He was in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, as well as Ecology Club in high school. Friends have always been very important to him. Even today his best friends are from high school.
Mike studied a trade at Moraine Valley Community College and we are proud that he received his certification in radiography. From there he secured a job as a radiographer for an oil company and used his experience and field training to advance even more in the career of a chemical operator for a worldwide biotech company. Because of his success in his careers, last year he was been able to purchase his first home.
In 1993 we were blessed with our little girl, Julia Marie Janes. She was definitely a mama’s girl during her baby years. As soon as she started pre-school we noticed her love for learning and kindness towards everybody. Julia was enjoyed by all of her teachers from pre-school through college. She was very self-motivated and eager to learn. Like her brother, she became a soccer player and she played the flute in the junior high and high school bands. Both Mike and Julia became soccer referees as one of their first high school jobs. Julia was in many clubs including Yearbook, Interact and the Youth Commission in the city of Oak Forest. She was in both the National Junior High School Society and the National Honor Society in high school. She became very involved in her community and enjoyed working with other groups of young teens. This followed through with her friends at college and the clubs in which she was involved.
Our worst nightmare presented itself in July of 2009 when Julia was diagnosed with bone cancer in her tibia, Ewing Sarcoma. She was diagnosed 2 days after her 16th birthday. She fought this beast with what the doctors called fast and hard adult treatment, because she was only 16, for almost a year and won. During treatments Julia and Mike looked forward to seeing each other, even though Mike would visit her after working full time and attending trade school classes. Julia was learning to live (as she said) her, “new normal” life with residual aches and pains in her leg. She walked with a limp. She continued to stay positive for almost four years and was eager to attend Bradley University where she excelled her freshman year and the beginning of her sophomore year. Julia was studying to become a teacher like her parents and grandfather. She loved her professors and became even more involved with her college life. Julia had already started two student teacher experiences. She was freshman student of the year at Bradley, and started the first ever collegiate chapter of CureSearch, an organization of doctors trying to cure pediatric cancers. Julia was more than her cancer diagnosis. She was a beautiful, intelligent, kind and caring person.
In her second semester she was diagnosed with a secondary cancer called AML, which developed from her harsh cancer treatments for Ewing Sarcoma that was ‘cured.’ This is why Julia’s Legacy of Hope’s Hero Fund at St. Baldrick’s has as its primary mission to fund childhood cancer research that results in less toxic treatments and more effective cures. Julia fought harder than ever before, she wanted to live and continue her life helping others. But cancer took her life far too early and with that, her hopes and dreams that she had her entire life.
Teachers, students and staff at Oak Forest High School, Julia and Mike’s alma mater, formed the first Julia’s Legacy of Hope for the purpose of raising money for our family. They handed Julia’s Legacy of Hope over to us in 2014. We used the gift from her teachers, $40,000, and continued to fund raise up to $100,00 to fund our first grant, the Every Child grant, through the Cure It Foundation, a non-profit formed by Julia’s first oncologist. Then, in 2018 we joined with St. Baldricks and have raised close to $700,000 and funded 7 childhood/teen cancer research studies. We are sure that Julia would be proud of the new partnership with the Superheroes in Kilts because this will help us raise even more money for childhood / teen cancer research. Research is hope!
The Superheroes in Kilts have been with us as shavees for many years, and now have taken a leadership/partnership role in running our St. Baldrick’s events.
Julia’s Legacy has always worked with local schools to raise money for pediatric cancer research, many times through St. Baldrick’s shaving events. Now that the Superheroes in Kilts are working with us at Gaelic Park, which always occurs in early March, we have more time to expand our work with schools in neighboring communities.
We are excited to have the Superheroes in Kilts partner with us at the Gaelic Park event this year. They have offered some new and great ideas, both for the day of the event as well as behind the scenes with technology that will make our event run even smoother! Julia’s Legacy of Hope looks forward to brainstorming future events and reaching new communities with the Kilts as we raise money for necessary childhood cancer research through Julia’s Legacy of Hope’s Hero Fund at St. Baldricks.