St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis has a simple yet powerful mission: Finding cures. Saving children.
An East Tennessee man who was once a patient there is giving back.
It's just telling my life story of what I am thankful for, what I have been through, and what God has done for me in my life," Chadd Jarnagin said.
His self-published book called "God, St.Jude and Me" is Chadd Jarnagin's story of childhood cancer and how he survived through the power of prayer and the care of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
"My mother took me to a doctor in Knoxville Tennessee and he's the one that found out that diagnosed me with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) so that night we headed to Memphis to St Jude's," he said. "They used chemo, radiation, pills, shots, just you name it whatever they had available."
Even with all of that treatment his prognosis was grim.
"They give me up to die at St Jude's. And they said they had did all they could do for me and I was in God's hand. They had prayer for me all over the world my name was released everywhere. They had prayer for me and God healed me," he said.
Chadd pulled through that crisis and he remained a patient from 1972 to 1988. During that time he traveled from Whitesburg in Hamblen County in East Tennessee to the far side of the state: Memphis.
It cost his family nothing but time. St. Jude pays for treatment, travel, housing, and food.
He is grateful for that generosity so he not only wrote a book about it but also is donating all the proceeds from sales to the hospital.
"God asked me to do it. He talked to my heart and he asked me to do this for St. Jude's, not for me but for them. He asked me to donate all the proceeds from my book to St Jude's to help with cancer research," he said. "All the proceeds go to the hospital. I don't keep any money whatsoever."
The cover of his book features his patron plaque on the St. Jude Supporters' Wall. It honors the dedication of donors who believe strongly in its mission.
Chadd published "God, St Jude, and Me" last spring and donated $2,000 to the hospital in December. He would like to raise another thousand dollars for St. Jude in 2018. It's his way of saying thank you.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital freely shares its medical discoveries with doctors and scientists around the world.