BJ Diamond would like his daughter’s legacy to be one of hope and thanksgiving for Johns Hopkins. “We want her name associated with Hopkins,” says Diamond, whose youngest daughter Cameron died in 2008 from lung complications after treatment for leukemia. “In terms of our appreciation for this place, I think having lost a daughter and yet wanting her name tied to Hopkins speaks volumes about Johns Hopkins and its people.”
Diamond and his wife Carol returned to Hopkins Children’s last week to deliver a check for more than $2,637 raised in a community swim earlier in the year.
In July 2010, dozens of young swimmers between the ages of 6 and 18 took part in the Cameron Diamond Invitational Swim Meet at Crofton Swim and Tennis Club in Crofton, Md. The swim meet was for noviceswimmers who didn't qualify for a regional or state meet but, according to the Diamonds, were “courageous enough to jump into a swimming pool and swim their hardest.”
The description, they say, could describe their youngest, a champion in her own right, who kept going against all odds. “Which of us is not a diamond in the rough when it comes right down to it,” says her father. “We simply do the best we can. We keep going and hold on to hope.”
Cameron “Cami” Diamond certainly began life facing a rough challenge. Diagnosed with leukemia at only 6 weeks of age, in 2000, she had a bone marrow transplant at Hopkins Children’s less than six months later. When she was 5, with her cancer declared cured, she developed progressive lung disease, likely a consequence of the intense therapy required to save her life. In the care of pediatric pulmonologist Peter Mogayzel at Hopkins Children’s, Cami received ongoing therapy and was frequently hospitalized. By 2008, it was clear that she would need a double-lung transplant.
At Hopkins Children’s, physicians, nurses and technicians worked to stabilize the 8-year-old, to get her healthy enough to undergo surgery. Megan Quick was among those who bonded with Cami.“She was just such a tough little girl,” says Quick, a nurse clinician on the pediatric intensive care unit and a member of the pediatric transport team. “She had this amazing spirit and was so resilient. We all loved her.”
In April 2008, Cami was finally off her ventilator and, with Hopkins Children’s critical care fellow Chris Watson and respiratory therapist Chip Custis accompanying her, allowed to fly to St. Louis Children’s for the double transplant. In the end, the child simply could not survive her multiple critical illnesses. She died before surgery, but in the arms of her mother, with her father and sisters Mandi and Julia by her side.
“In that trip, in that final effort to save her life, she used up every last ounce of bravery,” says Carol Diamond. “She fought so hard and for so long that we both believed she would get through this.”
The family’s efforts to raise funds on behalf of Hopkins Children’s will continue. “We want to associate her name with a place that brings hope and joy to children,” says BJ Diamond. “The people here are amazing. The process you go through with a sick child is extraordinary. You are so vulnerable. You look for support and caring. We found it all here.
“We feel good about contributing to this place,” he adds. “It helps keep her spirit alive.”
Within the next year, the Diamonds hope to raise additional funds for a total of $7,500 to help furnish, in Cami’s name, a playroom in the new Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children’s Center at Johns Hopkins. Now under construction, the new building opens in April 2012.