I have worked for the PAO for 16 years and have always participated in the EGP, happily choosing nonprofits that I believed in.  Until 2010, when our 20-year-old son, Jaimeson Jones, died of testicular cancer, I never dreamed that I would be starting and listing my own.

Testicular cancer is 95% curable when it is caught early, but it is a cancer that too many people are unfamiliar with.  Because Jaimeson did not understand what his testicle pain and swelling indicated, he lived with it for over a year without telling us, until it became unbearable.  By the time he was diagnosed, at age 14, his cancer was Stage IV.

Jaimeson achieved remission after he turned 15, and then he relapsed when he was 19.  He died a year and a half later.

During his two bouts with cancer, our family experienced all that you might expect: days and nights spent researching treatments and clinical trials, countless medical appointments, fighting with insurance companies, traveling all over the country for consultations and treatment, living in Jaimeson’s room at Seattle Childrens Hospital over and over, not to mention the agony of watching your child (and his siblings) suffer.

What we didn’t expect was how thoroughly having a child with cancer can wipe out a family financially, even with the best insurance.  As a result, Jaimeson’s illness and care severely impacted the ability to save for his two younger sisters’ college costs.  Jaimeson became aware of this financial toll, and he bequeathed his college savings to his two younger sisters.

Inspired by Jaimeson’s gift, and in his memory and honor, I decided to raise funds for a scholarship to benefit students who have had a sibling with cancer.

The dual missions of the Jaimeson Jones Memorial Scholarship, EGP #9456, are:

Saving lives by educating young men about testicular cancer

&

Providing scholarships to students whose sibling had cancer.

-Nancy B., Prosecuting Attorney’s Office

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