NEW ORLEANS — It's been 16 years since restaurant entrepreneur Al Copeland lost his battle with cancer, but still today, his wish to help others with cancer lives on.
Now, some of those patients are just toddlers.
A few seconds with four-year-old Vivian Peranio, and you know the world is her stage. And it's hard to imagine that just a year and a half ago, her mom Janel took her to the doctor with what they thought was just a mild fever.
“So, we just did some labs, and went on our way, and within like 45 minutes the pediatrician called. When we heard cancer, I was like, I literally just put my two-year-old down for a nap, like what are you talking about cancer?” remembers Janel Peranio, Vivian’s mother.
Vivian had a common childhood leukemia called ALL. Doctors at Children's Hospital New Orleans began chemotherapy within two days.
“And there were some rough days. I mean, there still are, but the hardest part is keeping a two-year-old in a bed attached to all kinds of wires,” said Vivian’s father Dave Peranio.
“Most of these kids come in with signs, and symptoms of like fever, bone pain, limping, not feeling great. So, parents know something is wrong. We are very lucky that the type of cancer that Vivian has is very curable,” explained Dr. Pinki Prasad, a pediatric oncologist-hematologist at Children’s Hospital New Orleans who is an associate professor of pediatrics at LSU Health New Orleans.
But it wasn't only the doctors at Children's Hospital who were there for the Peranio family. So was the Al Copeland Foundation.
“I know what it’s like to find out a parent has cancer, but to find out that your child would have cancer, I can’t even conceive that,” said Al Copeland, Jr.,
President of the Al Copeland Foundation and a father to five daughters.
He runs the foundation that was inspired by his late father. He remembers a Thanksgiving conversation with his father and the rest of the family.
“And we just vowed at that moment that we’d find a cure for the cancer that he had, and he didn’t make it. We lost the battle, but we won the war. I mean, less than a decade later, we found a cure for the cancer that he had,” said Al Copeland, Jr.
Last year they added to that mission of supporting clinical trials and started the Children's Hospital Patient Assistance Fund. So far, they've helped more than five dozen families offset everyday expenses when a child is battling cancer.
“Just having somebody to have your back on utilities, and things like that can just take a load off. I mean because everything stacks,” said Dave Peranio.
And when you get certain dishes at any Al Copeland restaurant from June 28 to July 6th, there’s going to be a donation to the special foundation, and every penny of it goes to helping children.
“The outpouring of support we've gotten from all over the city is just wild. It just lets you know there are a lot of good people still left in the world,” Dave Peranio added.
The Copeland Foundation will match every dollar raised at its restaurants. You can also donate here.
June 28 Al Copeland day - July 6 National Fried Chicken Day at Copeland restaurants. Ask which ones are the special dishes or desserts.
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