Childhood Cancer Awareness

It is and should be a popular cause to support cancer research for children and children who endure the shocking ordeal of cancer.

No child should have to endure cancer. Ever. It is a tragic function of our scary, broken world.

But what if there were “better” and “worse” ways to get cancer?

And what if some of the worse ways had to do with enduring other things that children should not have to be exposed to? Second-hand smoke? Meth labs in their homes? Physical abuse? Or sexual exploitation?

The terrible truth is that some people do get cancer from being sexually exploited and physically abused.

People like Robbie Middleton.

Kids you will probably never see on a poster for cancer research because our society systematically marginalizes child abuse victims.

Imagine. Imagine the hell of that kind of abuse–that it could result in a boy’s death.

Then imagine you and I were the ones who looked away because it was too hard to bear.

Too hard indeed.

The Story You Won’t Read…

I have been haunted recently by this story.

Should not happen.

But here is the thing…

The neighbor should have been arrested and detained after the initial rape.

He should not have been free to try to murder a child he had already raped

Yet Robbie Middleton’s assailant was allowed to go free even after he tortured and attempted to kill Robbie.

Insufficient evidence…the police said.

I would say, try a little harder boys.

Only I understand this–the reason that Don Collins was not arrested, charged, detained, or tried for the rape and attempted murder of Robbie Middleton was because too many of us looked away.

We do not want to know these stories. We do not want to carry them with us.

When the system fails our children, we fail them too, by not demanding more.

How fast would you complain if someone cut off your wifi?

Pretty fast, I bet. I know I would. Because we paid for it.

We all pay a price for the years Robbie suffered before he succumbed to such unbearable injury.

Robbie paid in pain.

We pay with our flaccid and tarnished souls.