🎥 VIDEO EPISODE NOTE: This story was made for video and includes powerful visual moments from both sides of the THON 2026 Hospital-to-THON Bridge — from patient rooms at Penn State Health Children's Hospital to the floor of the Bryce Jordan Center. Watch the full episode on YouTube for the complete experience. — — — Every year, THON happens for the kids who can't be there. This year, THON came to them. Delaney Clemens is sixteen years old. A two-sport varsity athlete — field hockey and lacrosse

At twenty years old, Eliot Dean was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. For weeks, his world shrank to a single hospital floor he couldn't leave — a window with a good view, a lot of sunsets, and the slow, difficult work of getting through treatment. Five years later, in remission, Eliot thought the worst was behind him. Then routine blood work came back suspicious. Same markers. Same diagnosis. A different kind of fear. In this episode of Life on Pause, Eliot shares what no one tells y

🎥 VIDEO EPISODE NOTE: This story was created for video and includes incredible visual moments from THON Weekend — from walking through Penn State's player cheer tunnel to experiencing the energy of 16,500 students in the Bryce Jordan Center. For the full experience, watch on YouTube: [LINK] When Grace Schneider was diagnosed with B-cell leukemia in 2020, her family discovered something unexpected: Penn State's THON — the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, where students stand for 46

What happens when treatment ends but the journey continues? For young adult cancer survivors, the ringing of the bell marks not an ending, but the beginning of something more complex — survivorship. In this powerful episode of Life on Pause, five young women who participated in Penn State Health Children's Hospital's inaugural PhotoVoice project come together to share their experiences using photography to tell the stories they struggled to put into words. Facilitated by social worker Meredith N

What does health maintenance really mean when you're a young adult cancer survivor? Eliot and Hailey—both acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survivors—share the reality of life after treatment: checkups every six months, school accommodations for brain damage, mental health boundaries that weren't optional before, and learning which exercises won't break bones weakened by chemotherapy. Recorded at Life Lion Emergency Services in Hershey, Pennsylvania, this episode draws a powerful parallel betwe

When a Life Lion flight nurse saves a teenager's life, he never expects to meet him again. Ten years later, that young man returns—not as a patient, but as a father—to say thank you. Ten-year-old William, a leukemia survivor, discovers a new dream while exploring a Life Lion helicopter: "I may want to be a helicopter mechanic." Maria, a Wilms tumor survivor, remembers the kindness of her transport crew. And Lisa Kreider shares a stunning revelation: Life Lion saved her life sixteen years ago aft