Tristan Morris is a courageous young man. At age eight, he underwent treatment for anaplastic astocytoma of the spine. He and his family traveled from their home in New Jersey, where they had received a bleak prognosis, to Mass General, where he received life-saving treatment at the Francis H. Burr Proton Therapy Center. Three years later, when a small lesion appeared in Tristan’s brain, he received another round of proton therapy. Both treatments were successful, although the cancer left Tristan with numerous side effects, including some paralysis in his legs.
Now 15 years old, Tristan still faces daily challenges. But with the help of his parents, five siblings and care teams at both Mass General and New York University Cancer Institute, he continues to beat the odds.
Shortly after Tristan’s first treatment, the Morris family (pictured here) established the Tristan’s Gift of Hope Foundation. Its goal is to fund research and supportive care programs for children going through proton beam therapy.
“Tristan has always been the soul of our family and is now the soul of this fund,” said Tristan’s father, Jim, who serves on the Mass General Cancer Center Leadership Council. “Through this fund, we hope to increase the number of children who benefit from the center and the wonderful doctors here.”
