The Jadon Strong Foundation will host the “All Gas, No Brakes” car show to memorialize the life of Jadon Phillips, who passed away on Feb. 1, 2022 due to a battle with pediatric brain cancer.
According to www.jadonstrong.org, on Christmas Eve of 2020, Phillips was found unresponsive in his bed, and after being rushed by ambulance to the hospital, it was determined that his brain was bleeding. He received emergency surgery on Christmas and he spent 36 days in the hospital. Phillips’ doctors at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) diagnosed him with a brain tumor in late February 2021 and scheduled a tumor biopsy/resection surgery for March 3. Most of the tumor was removed, and a week later the tumor was diagnosed as glioblastoma, the most aggressive type. Over time, Phillips’ disease progressed and he passed away on Feb. 1.
“The scary thing about it is that before we found out that he had it, he was a star athlete with no symptoms or signs of anything,” said Caisse Gore, Phillips’ mother and founder of the Jadon Strong Foundation.
She explained how the foundation started.
“During our battle, I was on unpaid leave of absence – I’m a teacher at William Allen Middle School in Moorestown – I was on unpaid leave of absence to care for Jadon because he needed 24-hours a day care and it was really intense,” Gore said. “But I couldn’t work during that time, so we found out about different foundations through our coordinator at CHOP, and she connected us with multiple foundations that were able to help us along the way.”
“The idea for the Jadon Strong Foundation came about because all throughout the journey we were all saying, ‘Jadon’s the strongest person we know,’ to deal with the stuff that he was dealing with and constantly being poked at, prodded and (the) surgical procedures,” Gore said. “I know now and I know every minute leading up to now that I have to be that person or that platform to help other families that are going through this misery that we just went through because how else do I find purpose in my day?”
The Jadon Strong Foundation held its first annual 5K Walk on May 21 and recently hosted a Family Field Night at Moorestown High School.
“It was just a really good time,” Gore said. “Bringing families out, raising funds to help families battling pediatric brain cancer and just really honoring my son … It just really solidifies what we’re doing and why we’re doing this.”
“All Gas, No Brakes” is the foundation’s motto and Gore explained where it came from.
“Jadon was literally all gas, no brakes,” she said. “Before he got sick, he was the life of every party, he was always ready to go … He lived every minute to the absolute fullest and he did that every day since he was little.”
The “All Gas, No Brakes” car show will be held on Aug. 6 at Moorestown High School from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the event will be co-hosted by YouTube channel MOD2FAME. All proceeds will go towards the foundation’s mission of providing support to families faced with pediatric brain cancer.
“Jadon had a passion for cars since he was little, we had every Hot Wheel you could imagine,” Gore said. “He just grew to love cars so we decided, let’s have a car show. We’re going to do a car show every year in his honor … We’re going to have all the fancy cars you could imagine in the parking lot of Moorestown High School on Aug. 6.”
Gore hopes the Jadon Strong Foundation encourages others to help families faced with pediatric brain cancer.
“People want to know how they can help…The biggest thing is donations,” she said. “We really would be grateful to have donations – financial donations – because that … coming from a mother who just battled this, went through it, I know that that’s what families need the most.”
For more information on “All Gas, No Brakes” and the Jadon Strong Foundation, visit www.jadonstrong.org.
