450 Brookline's Origin

Back in October of 2014, at age 17, I was diagnosed with an extremely rare bone marrow disorder known as MonoMac Syndrome. I received a bone marrow transplant to cure this in December 2014. This started my long 9 months of isolation.

Through these long nine months and after isolation, I discovered that not many people full understand what it's like to go through chemotherapy and cancer, as well as the lasting effects it has on one. I was thinking of some sort of way I could help give a voice to people that had cancer or are still battling it.

During my time in the hospital, I got very interested in art and design. Every Friday, a man would come to teach anyone who wanted to, how to paint. After being released from the hospital, I realized there was an artistic side of me and I got into drone and regular photography.

Since then I decided to put together my photography skills and my cancer awareness and unawareness. This is when I had an idea to create a page, similar to Humans of New York. After talking to a dozen teenagers that I had met along my journey, they decided some sort of page would be a great idea.

Starting in June 2016, I began interviewing teenagers about their experiences. A few months later, in August, I launched the page on Facebook calling it 450 Brookline. I named it this because in Boston, Massachusetts, Dana Farber Cancer Institute's street address is 450 Brookline Avenue. Dana Farber is where we have all been or are still currently being treated.

My hopes is that people can have a better understanding people who have/had cancer. It would be amazing if more people could like and share this page!