Elijah Greene, 13, has fought for his life since he was just a baby. Greene’s brave battles continue to this day.
Greene is now battling his fifth cancer, a form of Osteosarcoma of the clavicle bone — necessitating the recent removal of his collarbone.
Jessica Lewis, a friend of the family who’s helped organize a GoFundMe campaign for him, said although Greene battled cancer his whole life, this time carries new weight.
“[Greene], because he’s older now, he understands a lot more and this is the first time that he’s actually scared and said that he doesn’t want to do it again, obviously, but he knows that he has to,” said Lewis. “But this one is the first time he’s asking more questions, and understanding more, and it scares him and his little brothers understand a lot more this time.”
Greene has a gene called P53, a gene that causes cancer to come back.
Osteosarcoma is the most common type of cancer that starts in the bones, according to cancer.org. “The cancer cells in these tumors look like early forms of bone cells that normally help make new bone tissue, but the bone tissue in an osteosarcoma is not as strong as that of normal bones.”
In October 2010, at just 14 months old, Elijah was diagnosed with three different types of cancer: choroid plexus carcinoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and neuroblastoma.
He underwent treatment and surgery, winning that round in July 2011.
Greene began the 2018-19 school year as a fourth-grade student at Pinetree Community School in Canyon Country, but then the cancer returned, this time in his jaw.
“He’s missing out on his fourth-grade year,” his mother told The Signal in 2018. “I’m scared missing out on all of it.”
Following intensive chemotherapy and surgeries, Greene went into remission and was able to enjoy life without cancer for a while.
“He had beat it again and they were so happy,” said Lewis. “It took him a while to recover because, not only did it affect his jaw, they had to take the bone from his leg to make his jaw and they also had to have skin grafting … he was back to being a normal teenage boy, playing his sports that he loves. He loves playing hockey, he loves watching all sports, he’s into everything. He’s 100% boy, and he was doing really, really well.”
His recovery took an unfortunate turn this year when Greene complained of a lump on his collarbone. Since then, Greene was forced to return to chemotherapy treatments and hospitalization, which Lewis said could last months.
Lewis said Greene’s father, who owns his own business, has not been able to work — and may not be able to for some time, which prompted the creation of a new fundraiser.
Greene’s family is also accepting gas cards, visa cards and other items that will assist them to travel to the hospital for his treatments in addition to any donations made on GoFundMe. Lewis said the family is all set on groceries, so food donations are unnecessary. However, Lewis said she’s available to anyone who would like to help.
“Anyone can reach out to me on GoFundMe, send messages, whatever, if they would like to donate in another way and I will gladly connect with anybody through that avenue as well,” said Lewis.
To donate to Greene’s GoFundMe visit: https://bit.ly/40QDR9G.
