Approximately 1 in 285 children in the United States are diagnosed with cancer before their 20th birthday, according to the American Childhood Cancer Association. It may sound rare, but Hastings native Lily McGrath wants to use September’s Childhood Cancer Awareness Month to inform the community that it is not rare, and that it is a cause worth fighting for.
McGrath, a Prescott resident now, is the mother of Bryson “Goose” McGrath, who the community lost at age 5 after a battle with cancer lasting over 1,000 days in September 2025. Bryson’s memory will forever be honored by the City of Prescott, as June 18 (Bryson’s birthday) was proclaimed Silly Goose Day, a day to remember Bryson by living with the same joy, kindness and laughter that he did.
“It means a lot to us because not only did our child have childhood cancer, but he passed away from it. It gets very, very little attention. It gets very little federal funding for research, and a lot of people think that it is basically adult cancer inside of a child’s body, which it is not. They are very, very, very different,” Lily McGrath said.
Lily McGrath started the non-profit Derail Childhood Cancer, which is named in honor of Bryson’s love of trains. The non-profit is expanding, currently offering a pair of programs. The first program is Hope Express Backpacks. The backpacks are given to families whose children were just diagnosed with cancer. Inside of them are things like toiletries, phone chargers, card games, activities and paper and writing materials to take notes.
“It is a backpack that will be handed to a family who just got diagnosed,” McGrath said. “Oftentimes when you get a diagnosis, you show up to a hospital through the emergency room, and you’re unprepared to stay the night… Basically, it’s just something that gets them through those first few days and takes a little bit of a load off of them.”
The other program is Birthdays on Board, which throws themed birthday parties for children who are spending their birthday in the hospital. They also throw birthday parties for children who may not make it to their next birthday due to their diagnosis.
“We basically create a personalized birthday for them with whether it’s their favorite character or movie or whatever they want. We decorate their room. We’ve partnered with another organization that provides birthday cakes for children that have chronic illnesses and they’re very extravagant birthday cakes,” McGrath said. “We give them presents, and we do all the decorating and all the takedown so the parents don’t have to do that.”
The non-profit’s website is derailcc.org, where donations can be made to support the organization.
“It has taken a lot. I have poured my blood, sweat and tears into this. We opened it in March, and all day, every day I have just been working on it. It’s a labor of love, but it means a lot to us because we’ve been there and we know what it’s like,” McGrath said. “We know how helpful all the organizations were to us when we were going through it, but there’s not enough.”
McGrath said many parents or guardians have to quit their jobs after a childhood cancer diagnosis, and that does not stop the bills from coming in. Providing families with some of the relief they need can prolong and save lives.
Over the Sept. 18-20 weekend, McGrath attended the 15th Annual CureFest in Washington D.C. The event is dedicated to fighting for cures to childhood cancer. Thousands attend the event each year, which includes a shoe memorial at the Washington Monument, where the shoes of each child lost to cancer during the year are laid out, which amounts to approximately 1,800 each year in the U.S.
Attendees wear gold, put on the gold ribbons, make signs and walk the National Mall. There is a wall of angels and a wall of survivors on the walk.
“It’s not just meant for pediatric cancer families. It’s meant for anybody who cares about it and wants to advocate about it,” McGrath said. “We want to get loud so that people do see this, and people do recognize how critically underfunded it is.”
McGrath said it was the first time the family has attended the event, but they plan to make it a priority moving forward.
In addition to financial donations, McGrath said a way to support the fight against childhood cancer is donating blood. There is always a blood and platelet shortage, and donating blood is a way that nearly everyone’s impact can be felt. McGrath also hopes people talk about childhood cancer. She said it is seen as an uncomfortable topic to many, which limits the awareness it gets.
Bryson received treatments that had not been updated in 30 years, and the number of treatments are far fewer than are available for cancer during adulthood.
McGrath knows multiple families in the area who have also lost children to cancer. She said just 8.9% of the National Cancer Institute’s funding in 2025 went toward pediatric cancer research.
“Just because we live in a really small, rural community, does not mean that it doesn’t happen to us,” McGrath said. “It’s not rare. People like to say it’s rare, and when you look at the numbers, they’ll look small, but it’s really not that rare.”
“Wisconsin also does not currently have a dedicated state-funded pediatric cancer research fund. There is an effort underway to establish a Wisconsin Pediatric Cancer Research Fund that would provide dedicated state investment in childhood cancer research conducted here in Wisconsin,” McGrath said.