Using his Facebook page, Graham’s Gift, Graham Fowler has managed to raise over $8,000; doing so by selling colorful handmade bracelets for $1 each.
Instead of blowing his earnings on comic books or a new bike, the 10-year-old entrepreneur has made a point to donate the proceeds from his Facebook sales to other kids with cancer.
Graham Fowler was initially inspired to construct the bracelets as a way to kill time during his trips to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, explains Today. He regularly traveled two hours from his home for treatment of a rare melanoma.
Melanoma is an aggressive, malignant form of skin cancer. Worldwide, about 160,000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed annually, and about 48,000 melanoma-related deaths occur globally per year.
If detected early, the changes of surviving melanoma are favorable. Treatment can include surgical removal of the cancerous tumor coupled with chemo- and immunotherapy, or radiation therapy.
Graham was diagnosed with spitzoid melanoma in April 2013. He underwent numerous tests and at least 10 surgical procedures battling his cancer.
Unfortunately, there is no cure for the young boy’s cancer, which means he will require being closely monitored. Graham will have to avoid peak-hour sunlight, and must wear sunblock and protective clothing.
While Graham Fowler rightly struggles to accept his lifelong cancer diagnosis, he does so with a positive, selfless mission to help others.
With the help of his siblings – as Graham Fowler is one of eight – the hobby has since grown into an altruistic activity. The fourth-grader continues to weave his intricate handmade bracelets, offering them on Graham’s Gift, and donates to childhood cancer research at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota.
[Photo Credit: Graham’s Gift FB]
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