There is a lot of love in the heart of five-year old Chloe Shum. Chloe exudes excitement and greets everyone she meets with tremendous enthusiasm, even if they are total strangers.

Chloe can share her indomitable spirit with the world thanks to the love of her mother Kathy and the fine doctors and nurses at BC Children’s Hospital. First diagnosed at age three with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), Chloe went through a punishing treatment regimen to rid her body of cancer.

Chloe went through six months of chemotherapy and a tracheostomy, where a breathing tube was inserted into her neck to enable her to breathe. Chemotherapy made Chloe’s hair fall out and following her treatment, she had to re-learn how to walk. Much of her treatment was spent in isolation due to her weakened immune system, and even after being released from the hospital, Chloe was not allowed to leave the house for months.

The experience forged an unbreakable bond between Chloe and Kathy. Cancer forced mother and daughter to invest their faith in each other.

“Chloe appreciates every moment of her life and I realize that I have to live the same way. Her spirit is reflected in how she gets excited about a puzzle, being with me, and in the way she loves others,” Kathy says.

Chloe consistently showed that love to her caregivers at the hospital.

“Chloe made a tremendous impression on the doctors and nurses. She has an amazing pain threshold and it made us both tougher to go through what we did,” says Kathy. “She loves her caregivers and they love her too. We still go back and visit the people at Children’s.”

Now that Chloe is cancer-free, her life is returning to normal. She began kindergarten in September 2005 and enjoys going to school. Kathy and Chloe have begun sharing their story to ensure that a cure for childhood cancers is found. With their bond and strength of spirit, the Shums are bound to succeed.