Reunited By Grief: Two mothers connected by childhood cancer meet again after years apart

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Two friends connected by unimaginable loss were reunited for the first time in years.

On New Year's Eve, Jamie Perkins and Candice Thompson met for the first time in eight years since their daughters received cancer treatment at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. The reunion day was also the five-year anniversary of Perkin’s daughter’s death.

“The timing couldn't be more right to have one of my best friends arrive,” Perkins said. “It was so surreal to just be able to hold her face and grab her face and hug and kiss her in real life.”

“I was just so thankful to put my arms around her,” Thompson said. 

In 2020, Perkins lost her 10-year-old daughter, Sawyer, after a nearly five-year battle with stage three anaplastic ependymoma, a rare form of brain cancer.

Perkins had documented her daughter’s fight online for years, gaining a large following and community of support.

While going through treatment Perkin’s family met Thompson and her family at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in 2017. Thompson’s daughter Brooklyn battled Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer that forms tumors in bones or soft tissues.

“Our daughters were in treatment at the same time,” Perkins said. “Mine and Candy's friendship just blossomed from day one, and it was just amazing having her by my side.” 

“Being there and everything that you're going through, it's like you need people. You need to have a connection with somebody else,” Thompson said.

Thompson’s daughter died nearly a year later April 9th, 2018. The funeral was the last time either parent saw each other. Years later, Perkin’s daughter died on Dec. 31, 2020.

Since then, Perkins founded “Sawyer’s Warriors,” a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping families bereaved by pediatric cancer.

The non-profit has helped several families across the country. Recently, the organization began offering “Beauty Beyond the Beast Grief Retreats,” designed to provide grieving families with ways to create positive memories together.

Perkins helped the Thompson family plan a trip to the Massanutten Ski and Water Park Resort as part of the retreat program.

“They live in Mississippi. They wanted to be near the cold weather. So, we put them up at Massanutten Resort and Lodge, where they got to go skiing,” Perkins said.

 “We had such a good time. It was very much needed,” Thompson said. “The Lord is here for us. And he has put people into our lives to help us. Just be the light for somebody else.”  

Perkins said she’s planning another trip sometime next year. It's a bereaved mother’s retreat to reflect and memorialize the ones they’ve lost.