13-year old Ava Decker launches special foundation for kids with cancer while facing her own challenge

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Ava Decker just turned 13 years old in Santa Barbara and her life is uniquely focused towards other kids who are facing a battle with cancer, just like she is. Her case was diagnosed in December of 2022.

The bone cancer, osteosarcoma, is rare and is detected in children during their growing years. She’s had chemotherapy treatments, and a tumor removed at the UCLA medical centers in Santa Monica and Westwood. The cancer, however, has spread.

At home, bundled up in a blanket, she said her goal is to raise funds to help other children with cancer and to assist their families. She and her family have started a non-profit called the Glimmers Childhood Cancer foundation.

Living with cancer, getting treatments and learning about the disease has her using the limited strength she has these days, to strongly bring up the issue she sees where federal funds for childhood cancer treatment amounts to only 4%.

The Glimmers Foundation website said Ava wants donations "that would shine glimmers of hope and support, built on the utmost integrity by directly funneling funding for cutting edge research for pediatric cancer with the goal to make bold progress on creating less toxic and more effective treatments."

She said the funds will help families with children challenged by cancer and spread awareness and education.

Decker said the treatments she has received were developed decades ago and new types of research, specifically for children with bone cancer are needed and are less painful.

With her mother Vanessa by her side, Ava said, "I don't want to have a foundation that's just there to help support getting these treatments, we need to have a foundation to raise funding to create new treatments, so that we aren't supporting these old treatments that are bad anyways and aren't even working that well. We need treatments that are working better because we haven't had any new or much progress in osteosarcoma or in childhood cancer in the last 50 years."

She said support from her friends have been amazing. "Two of my friends had a big presentation to my whole school about osteosarcoma."

On her phone, "Every single night and the morning and they always check in on me a lot and they always volunteer to push my wheel chair for me."

Vaness said, the foundation is vital. "We just felt a major scarcity of support systems. While there was great medical care there was a lack of social or emotional support."

Describing the name Glimmers for the foundation, Ava said it is something positive. "It's like a happy moment in your life that you remember forever. A glimmer or something when you're sitting in the window in the evening and sitting there and all of a sudden you feel the golden hour coming in and it's ahhhhh. That's like a glimmer."

Vanessa said Ava thrives on "the quality of presence from the people you love the most. It is the biggest glimmer and it's free an that's definitely what Ava wants every day."

Recently she was able to meet TV star and Seinfeld show creator Larry David from one of her favorite shows, Curb Your Enthusiasm as a special uplifting moment during these tough times. "I just love that show so much it makes me laugh so so much.  I just always wanted to meet him."

For more information or to donate go to: The Glimmers Childhood Cancer Foundation.