Aaron Pinsky {Courtesy of Beth Pinsky}
By Kevin Deutsch
A Coral Springs High School student who survived childhood cancer has been named a 2024 ambassador by the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest private funder of pediatric cancer research grants.
Aaron Pinksy, 16, was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone and soft tissue cancer, at age four. The diagnosis came while Pinksy was a preschool student at Temple Beth Orr in Coral Springs. He woke up one morning in February 2012 unable to walk, and doctors soon discovered a large tumor on his spine.
Cancer treatment at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital started immediately while Pinksy was re-learning how to walk. Over seven months, he endured cancer surgeries and physical therapy and underwent 14 rounds of chemotherapy and 28 rounds of proton beam radiation. Pinsky spent 82 nights in the hospital during treatment.
Today, Pinsky is an accomplished guitar player and plays tennis for his high school varsity team. He is also an avid reader who loves video games and movies and competes in soccer, with Lionel Messi of Inter Miami being his favorite athlete.
He recently spoke at a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society symposium, and St. Baldrick’s is sending Pinksy to Washington, D.C., next month to talk to Florida congressional members about the need for child cancer research funds.
“I would love to help inspire people and show them that there’s a wonderful world and life after you go through your treatment,” Pinksy told Coral Springs Talk. “You can live a great life.”
Pinksy said he would like to eventually work in the medical field and help others. Asked what he would tell children currently undergoing cancer treatment, he said:
“Just keep on pushing. Let your family and friends help you through it. Them being there for you makes you stronger…you can make your way through it and live your life to the fullest.”
Aaron Pinsky {Courtesy of Beth Pinsky}
St. Baldrick’s, a charity best known for its head-shaving cancer fundraisers, described Pinsky on their website as “resilient, positive, and determined,” traits that “served him well through his battle with cancer and continue to guide his life today.”
“He’s my hero,” said Beth Pinksy, Aaron’s mother. “You don’t know you’re going to give birth to your own hero until it happens. To him, everything has been about the positive. He understands that now it’s his turn to give back and show others that there’s hope.”
Aaron Pinsky with his mom, dad, and brothers {St. Baldrick’s Foundation}
St. Baldrick’s ambassadors represent the more than 400,000 kids worldwide diagnosed with cancer each year. The ambassadors come from diverse geographic areas, ages, diseases, and treatment statuses. Their stories aim to highlight the importance of supporting the best childhood cancer research to help all kids diagnosed with cancer live long, healthy, productive, and happy lives.
Aaron Pinsky is living proof such lives are possible. Encouraged by his family to always see the positive side of things, Pinsky got through his proton treatments by repeatedly listening to Katy Perry’s song “Firework.” In six weeks, it was played more than 440 times. The proton techs still reach out to Aaron when they hear the song.
Pinsky’s family has dedicated themselves to boosting child cancer research and helping kids undergoing treatment. They helped get iPads into the hands of cancer patients at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital and hosted an annual St. Baldrick’s fundraiser that has raised over $400,000 over the past eight years.
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