On Friday, October 15th the Caritas house held a prayer service for a very special little boy. Mrs. Phillips’ dear friend, Melissa Hunte, is the aunt to Ty Andracke, who was diagnosed with b-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) on April 28, 2021.

A simple definition of Leukemia is that there are too many B-cell lymphoblasts (immature white blood cells) found in the bone marrow and blood. It is the most common type of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (sometimes shortened to ALL). Luckily, ALL is very treatable and has a high success rate of eliminating all cancer cells, so the Andracke’s are very hopeful.

Ty and his family live in Bloomfield, Illinois and have been under treatment at St. Jude hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He has been in treatment for about six months and has close to 2 years left. His family and friends have formed a group called “Ty’s Troops” and have been by his side since the beginning. The troop has also extended to our St. Dominic community as well. Ty now has the entire Caritas house behind him as well.

Little Ty is six years old and loves playing sports. His dad, Eric, is a high school basketball coach and Ty loves playing basketball and cheering on his dad’s team. Alongside basketball, Ty likes to play any sport with a ball. He adores donuts and frozen pizza. He has the most contagious smile and enjoys being with his family.

Caritas held a prayer service for Ty where Mrs. Hunte came and spoke on his behalf and shared his story. It was an emotional and an impactful service for everyone. After Mrs. Hunte finished sharing about Ty and his family, Father Patrick gave a blessing. The Caritas HOH’s, Matthew Willebrink and Gracie Edwards, presented Mrs. Hunte with a Caritas t-shirt for Ty.

“I thought it was a really cool experience. No house points, no trophies, no winners, just a group of people getting together to support and lift up this strong little boy. It was so cool getting to pray for him and bring him into our Caritas community. Ty now has a whole house of people behind him rooting for him, praying for him, and thinking about him!!! It’s the acts of service we get to do for others that makes being an HOH and a Dom student so worth it,” said Caritas HOH Gracie Edwards.

Caritas is thinking and praying for Ty and his family everyday! If you would like to donate to help their family in their journey, use this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/tys-troops-take-on-leukemia