Los Angeles – The Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation has announced the winners of the 2011 Andre Sobel Award for Survivors of Pediatric Cancer and other Illnesses. Now in its tenth year, the Award invites teens who have survived serious illness to share their stories so that friends, family and others experiencing serious health challenges may learn from their experiences. In highly personal, wise, humorous and sometimes searing essays, teens reflect on how illness has changed their relationships, their outlooks and their lives.

Friends Katie Fitzgerald, of Tyler, TX, and Miranda Coleman of Kent, WA, have won first place, and an award of $5,000 for their essay submission, Radio Host for a Day and a companion essay including a letter from Miranda to Katie.

The second place winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, won for their essay All Pains Aren’t Physical.

Micah Moshoff  of Somerset, MA, is the third place winner. His essay takes the form of a stream of consciousness essay to others about his struggles with his illness.

Patrick Aylward, of Norwalk, CT, Kara Gay of Greenville, NC, were both awarded an Honorable Mention.

Teens from across the US submitted entries in response to the prompt: “What I needed from others when I was ill: Notes From Someone Who’s Been There.” Winners’ essays will be posted at www.andreriveroflife.org and in the Impact Section of The Huffington Post over the next month. Varian Medical Devices is the 2011 Award Sponsor.

The Andre Sobel Award is named for the teenage son of Valerie and Erwin Sobel who lost his life to a brain tumor at the age of 19. To honor his memory and his love for literature and writing, his mother created the Andre Sobel Award to reward young people who are survivors of catastrophic illness.

The Andre Sobel Award is named for the teenage son of Valerie and Erwin Sobel who lost his life to a brain tumor at the age of 19. To honor his memory and his love for literature and writing, his mother created the Andre Sobel Award to reward young people who are survivors of catastrophic illness.  The Award solicits voices of young survivors and provide catharsis through the process of writing about a life-altering time in a young person’s life. While Andre Sobel was not able to pursue his plans for college and beyond, it is the intention of the Andre Sobel Award that winners use their award funds in any way they choose to fulfill a cherished dream.

It’s about Bernardine and her beloved Daniela, a beautiful girl who lost her life to a brain tumor at age 14. Their tragic story embodies the essence of our mission: to be there when all other resources are exhausted.  If their story moves you, please know there are many families whose lives are equally fragile and who await our financial assistance. If you are in the position to help families like Bernardine’s,  please make a donation, and we promise to turn your gift  into aid to a family as quickly as it is received.

This national contest invites teen survivors of catastrophic illness to reflect on their experiences by telling us what they would want others to know about their journey. Congratulations to the winners:

First Place:  Katie Fitzgerald and Miranda Coleman

Second Place:  Bryana Perea

Third Place:  Micah Moskoff

Honorable Mention:  Patrick Aylward

Honorable Mention:  Kara Gay

We thank the more than 100 teens and young people who entered the contest, an act of courage, thoughtfulness and reflection in itself. We hope the process inspired you and will inspire those with whom you share your story.  Check your mailbox toward the end of August; we are sending you a small gift as a token of our appreciation during the week of August 22.  Thank you for being YOU!

Check back to our website during the month of October. We will be featuring one winning essay a week, along with a story about each of the winners!

Six years ago, Bernardine Joel was a happy wife and mother to three beautiful children – Andrew, Nadia and Daniela.  A year and a half ago, Bernardine came to us, now a struggling widow, having lost her beloved husband to a massive heart attack in 2005.  Her beautiful, fourteen year old daughter, Daniela, was slowly dying from a terminal brain tumor, and Bernardine’s funds had been depleted.  She had fought to keep up with the mounting bills and was supporting her family while providing sole care for her dying daughter.

For the last year and a half ASRL has regularly paid the Joel’s mortgage, utility bills, health insurance, groceries, and helped out with tennis lessons for 11 year old Andrew, a gifted young player, who so badly needed an outlet from the sadness his home had become.  Our foundation’s President, Valerie Sobel, who knew so closely the pain of losing a child to the exact same illness, regularly spoke to Bernardine on the phone and via email to provide what little emotional comfort however she could.

Daniela finally succumbed to her illness in at Thanksgiving time of 2010. Just a couple of weeks after the loss of Daniela, Bernardine’s other daughter, Nadia, was diagnosed with Stage Three lymphoma.  This is too much loss for any one person to bear, yet Bernardine bravely continues to do so.  Still dealing with the ever-so- recent loss of her daughter and now moving through this new, unbearable pain, Bernardine reached out to us on behalf of her son and her desire to give him a stable life.  To preserve some normalcy in this child’s life at this particular point in time is the very least of what we should do, no matter what we could do.  So we gladly stepped in again to pay for Andrew’s beloved after school sports lessons and to help Bernardine with her house payments, even as our  Foundation’s funds are stretched thin.

Just this week Valerie Sobel spoke with Bernardine. This single mother of now two children was driving to the doctor’s office with Nadia for an MRI.  Our prayer was that no cancer had been found in Nadia’s brain.  Today we found out that the cancer has indeed spread to Nadia’s brain.  We must continue to support Bernardine through this unthinkable nightmare.  If you are able to help with a donation, please do, so that we can continue to support Bernardine and other families like hers.

The above is an excerpt from an excellent (and most flattering) article written by Peter Samuelson, founder of Starlight World, the online network for seriously ill children.   Read the entire article “Leadership is Not Just for Experts!”  at  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-samuelson/leadership-is-not-just-fo_b_914109.html