When we last checked in on London Hamilton she had rang her bell, signifying that she was cancer free after a 14 month battle with Ewing sarcoma, a type of cancer that starts in the bones. Though the disease that had been trying to destroy London was under control, London’s road to living a normal kid life was just beginning.

After wrapping up her treatments in February of 2024 it took until April for London to get her cast off after breaking her femur in a fall back in January. “Due to how weak her bones were from chemotherapy, it still took a long while before she was able to even bear weight on that broken femur,” Carley Hamilton, London’s mother, recalled. The severity of the chemotherapy left London with a negative six on the bone density chart, the same rating you would expect to see in someone in their 80s. London got that cast off in April, and by the end of May she was bearing weight and building up the strength to walk comfortably again.

As the summer progressed London kept up with her physical therapy sessions and developed a love for riding the therapy bike. “The therapy bike is what really just what made her want to keep moving,” Carley said. London started middle school at the end of the summer, another challenge as she tried to get on track with the normal life of a kid. “She was still relying on her wheelchair,” Carley continued. London, with the assistance of supports and other tools, could transfer out of her wheelchair and into a seat, on her own at school, helping her gain some independence.

After joining a drug trial for Zoledronic Acid Infusions, a FDA approved drug for adults but not children, a medication that both stopped the breakdown of bone and helped build stronger bones, London began seeing improvement. “After she had her first infusion she was standing on her own within a few weeks and she just kept progressing,” Carley added. There was risk involved, but it gave London the best chance of walking again, it was a risk the family was willing to take.

London began spending more time outside of her wheelchair at school , a couple hours at a time as she continued building up the strength to do more. London, driven by being in school and wanting to do things on her own, kept building her strength and by the end of the school year she was doing most physical things on her own.

“Because of her broken vertebrae that she had because of the brittle bones the doctors said that they weren’t sure if she would be able to walk,” Carley recalled. As London prepared to enter the sixth grade in 2025 Carley put the equipment once needed to help London move into storage. “I don’t use any equipment at home with her at this point.”

While London received a great prognosis at her two-year scan earlier in 2026, her sister Cayley did not. Cayley went through her own battle with Ewing sarcoma around the same time London had her issues. “London was diagnosed in December 2022, Cayley was a few months later in May that next year,” Carley continued. While London’s case was in her bones, Cayley had it in her soft tissue of her left lung. Cayley went through the same treatment program London did, but due to London’s issues during that program Cayley caught up with London, finishing her treatment around the same time London, meaning they were on similar schedules for their two-year scans earlier in 2026. The scan revealed that Cayley once again has Ewing sarcoma.

Cayley, now 19 years old, began her treatment immediately. For Carley and the entire family it reinforced something you hear Red Crossers say all the time, the need is constant. “It’s important that people see the miracle side of London, but also that the need hasn’t stopped. Not just for our family, but for so many others,” Carley continued.

That constant need is why the Hamilton family hosts a blood drive every year with the Madison High School in Mansfield. Each year the drive has exceeded the goal set before it, and this year, like every year so far, the goal has increased. You can join us on May 7, 2026 to give blood in honor of London Hamilton and Cayley Bryden, and all the other folks battling cancer. You can visit RedCrossBlood.org and use sponsor code MCHS to book an appointment. And if you see this after the blood drive, visit RedCrossBlood.org to book an appointment at any blood drive.