Brother, sister facing fight against leukemia

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A family in Jacksonville with three children, all under the age of 5, two of whom are being treated for leukemia at Wolfson Children's Hospital, is facing the scary prospect that their third child is also going to be diagnosed with the same.

It is a scenario that has both family members and doctors searching for answers.

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Wednesday, Liam Smith, the 5-year-old boy who is supposed to have less than a year left in treatment, was readmitted to the hospital, the same hospital his 2-year-old sister, Emma Smith, is in for treatment.

Doctors are saying that the strangest thing about that is that it is Liam and Emma have the same diagnosis not Emma and her twin sister Ella Smith.

Bob Morrow is the children's great-grandfather. He said the kids call him G.B., short for Grandpa Bob. He said that Liam, who is still facing treatments through next April, loves golfing and is a connoisseur of McDonald's hash browns.

He said that 2-year-old Emma, who recently began treatments, and her twin sister are tough to keep up with and love the movie "Frozen." Its Emma's condition that Morrow said has doctors searching for answers.

"She was falling apart. We're falling apart. We are praying like crazy. I have a lot of church support; we would love to have the community bond around us," Morrow said. "They are contacting doctors across the country trying to figure out what's going on. They found spots on her back. They did a biopsy; they are hoping the results will give them more information."

The family thought it was nearing the end with treatments when Emma was recently diagnosed. Twin sister Ella is now being tested each month to make sure she is cancer-free.

"Liam should be hopefully through his treatments in April of next year. But now we start the process with Emma for the next three years. Ella has to be tested every month for the next year. If we get a third devastation, I'm praying that doesn't happen. So, it's killing us," Morrow said.

Morrow said that the family has been finding strength from a surprising source. That strength comes from Liam being a mentor for his younger sister.

"Liam has been a fighter through this. It's funny -- when Emma was first diagnosed and at the hospital, he was telling Emma everything about the hospital floor, where the best game room is to play and this and that," Morrow said.

A fundraiser was recently held at all four Jacksonville-area Mellow Mushroom locations. A manager there said that they raised over $4,000 for the family to help with its medical bills, which will now continue for at least the next three years while Emma is in treatment.

There is also a YouCaring account set up for people to be able to make donations at youcaring.com/emma-liam-smith-382707.