| VIDEO | AUDIO |
| OPEN WITH A WIDE SHOT OF ROBBIE'S PICTURE. SLOWLY ZOOM IN. |
SOUND: Begin slow tempo music.
ANNCR: My name is Robert DeVilliers. I was 16 years old
when I was diagnosed with a virtually incurable disease.
Leukemia. My doctors were helpless and hopeless and I lived
for only 3 more months. My parents were well off
financially. But not even their money could save me. They
were determined, however, that my life would have meaning,
that I would be remembered as more than a statistic. |
| DISSOLVE TO LOGO. |
So in 1949, they founded the Leukemia Society of America. |
| MONTAGE OF SHOTS SHOWING CHILDREN IN THEIR HOSPITAL BEDS. |
That was half a century ago, less than the blink of an eye for
me. Yet I can look at this hospital today, and see how much
has changed. 50 years ago, only 4 of these patients would
have gone home. 4 children out of one hundred. But now, 80
of them will leave. Cured. |
| LAB SHOTS SHOWING PEOPLE AND THE EQUIPMENT THEY USE - MICROSCOPES, BLOOD IN TEST TUBES, ETC. |
It's remarkable to think how something so small can be so
deadly. Leukemia, Lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease,
Myeloma... they all start here... cancers in the blood. You
need specialized equipment to see it... to test it... and to fight
it. You need years of education to recognize it... diagnose it...
find its weakness ... find its cure. |
| FOCUS ON WORK OF RESEARCHERS. OVER THIS SUPER GRAPH SHOWING SURVIVAL RATE INCREASING |
I watch them as they work. Patient. Methodical. Determined.
They're one of the more than 350 scientific investigator's being
supported by the society today. And I can see the results of
this research - how the overall survival rates for Leukemia
have tripled in the last 30 years. |
| MONTAGE OF VARIOUS PATIENTS. |
How do you put a price on a human life? My parents money
couldn't save me, so they gave it to help others like me. And
others followed their example - individuals and corporations -
making small and large gifts to the society, knowing the
society would use this money to see a cure, and support the
patients, their families and the medical community until the
cure was found. Year after year the support continued... the
money grew... the research progressed, and more and more
patients were saved. So how do you put a price on a human
life? By investing in the future. And you get to see your
return on the face of every survivor. |
| MORE PATIENT SHOTS, NOW WITH THEIR DOCTORS |
50 years ago, my parents gave me the greatest gift a parent
can give a child. They gave my life meaning. In the next 24
hours, another 300 people will be diagnosed with some form
of Leukemia, or Lymphoma or Myeloma. |
| DOUBLE EXPOSE SHOT OF ROBBIE WITH THE ABOVE. |
And I want to reach out and tell them that their life too has
meaning and not to give up hope. Because when I see how
much progress we've made in the past 50 years, I know we're
close to finding a cure. Oh, we're so very close. |
| DISSOLVE TO LEUKEMIA 50TH ANNIVERSARY LOGO. |
SOUND: Music up and out. |
