Sweet Little Girl from Biddeford Has Leukemia and Is Proving to Be Quite the Fighter

Madison's uncle Jeremy, an Old Orchard Beach firefighter, launched a GoFundMe to help.

According to GoFundme, Jeremy says, 'Madison lights up any room with her smile and laugh....Even the smallest donations will help so that the full focus will be on getting Madison into remission and becoming cancer-free!'

Madison Claire Charland is about to have her first birthday May 6th. This past March, she developed a rash and belly pain. The trip to the doctors ended with an immediate trip to the emergency room at Maine Med. After many tests, Madison was at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital with a diagnosis of B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Now Madison is in for the fight of her life and she's so tiny. She has to have very intensive chemotherapy for a month at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital. If that goes well and kills off the cancer cells, Madison still has a long road ahead. She will need additional chemotherapy for up to 2 and a half years to keep the cancer from coming back. Because she is so young, it can be very hard to treat her cancer. They are hopeful that this first treatment works so she doesn't have to have a bone marrow transplant.

Madison did have her first chemo treatment in March, and the doctors have been pleased with how its been going so far, according to a March 23 update on the GoFundMe page.

Her mom Sherri has to be out of work for at least a month while staying with Madison everyday while she is in the hospital.

As you can imagine - the combination of huge medical bills and a loss of income, is...well, beyond most of our comprehension.

Madison's uncle decided to set up a GoFundMe. The community has shown tremendous support, and I know we can help the family just a little bit more so that they can focus solely on getting Madison better.