Luc Bodden was on of my son Jack's best friends. 

In the early part of his life, Luc managed to evade many of sickle cells painful symptoms such as pain crisis. However, when Luc turned 2 years old, doctors found a narrowing of a vein in his brain that made Luc prone to strokes. The doctors told his parents that in order to fix this, Luc would need to undergo a bone marrow transplant. When Luc was seven, he had a bone marrow transplant to cure him of sickle cell disease and it worked. However, there were many complications along the way. Luc’s health trajectory was great after the bone marrow transplant and he lived sickle cell free for three years. But ultimately, he got an infection in his blood which created new complications to his already weaken immune system and Luc went to heaven in 2016 at the age of 10. 

Luc loved kickball and his parents created the LucStrong Foundation to provide grants to families with children (between the ages of 1 and18) who are diagnosed with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) and are going through the Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) process. The goal of the LucStrong Foundation is to help alleviate some of the financial burdens of families who have a child in the transplant process. Many families who enter the bone marrow transplant process find themselves in great emotional and financial strain and as a result are unable to meet some of their basic living expenses. The LucStrong Foundation offers grants, parking vouchers and gift cards to assist eligible families in meeting the financial challenges they are faced with. Established in 2017, The LucStrong Foundation operates out of Ventura County, CA.