Meet Melisa Fulling | President of the non-profit, Live Like Cameron

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melisa Fulling and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melisa, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” This quote is my son! We lost Cameron to cancer right before his 10th birthday. He was diagnosed with cancer at two years old and spent 7 years of his childhood fighting cancer. Cameron was the happiest kid despite everything he went through. He always had a smile on his face and left everyone with a smile on their face.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The story behind Live Like Cameron started on St. Patrick’s Day in 2010 when my son Cameron was sent for an MRI due to his frequent vomiting. That day forever changed our lives. It was the day we heard the words “your child has cancer.”

Cameron was 2 years old at the time of his diagnosis and spent 7 years of his life fighting cancer. Throughout those 7 years he underwent several brain surgeries, had radiation to the brain more times than they allow adults to have, tried several different chemotherapies, and spent most of his life in hospitals, including two out of state hospitals, St. Jude Children’s hospital in Memphis and Children’s Hospital of Georgia in Augusta.

Despite everything Cameron went through he always had a smile on his face even through the pain. I can’t explain how he was always so positive but he loved life and lived his short life to the fullest. He always managed to make everyone around him smile.

Sadly, we lost Cameron on April 6th 2017 just 12 days shy of his 10th birthday. I knew immediately that we needed to do something to keep his beautiful memory alive and to help other families that are faced with childhood cancer. Our charity was named Live Like Cameron to remind people that life is short and to live your life in a positive way just like Cameron did.

Our organization offers two programs. The first one is financial support for our Flagler County childhood cancer families and to celebrate their milestones. This was inspired by our community who stepped up and helped my family in our time of need. We were so overwhelmed by the amount of love and support given to us even by complete strangers. As with most families I was forced to leave my job to care for Cameron, the only hospitals that treat children with cancer are in Orlando, Jacksonville, or out of state causing high travel expenses, a lot of the treatments are experimental and aren’t covered by insurance, the list of expenses goes on and on. We were so blessed to have the support of our community because there were no childhood cancer organizations here in Flagler County. We currently have 33 families that we know of in Flagler County that are in different phases of their childhood cancer diagnosis.

Our second program is called our Bags of Hope. This program was inspired by Cameron’s dislike of the hospital rooms. He absolutely hated the uncomfortable and boring hospital sheets and blankets. We always had to bring fun and comfortable bedding with us every time he was hospitalized. It can also get very boring spending a lot of time in the hospital so we always tried to decorate his hospital room to remind him of home and bring toys to keep him occupied. We deliver our Bags of Hope to the pediatric oncology patients to three different hospitals in Orlando and Jacksonville. Our bags are customized to the patient’s needs, likes and hobbies. Each bag contains new sheets and blankets, comfortable pajamas, crafts, toys, room décor, snacks, games, & gift cards. We also deliver holiday themed Bags of Hope for the patients that have to spend the holidays in the hospital. Our main goal for these bags are to bring them a moment of joy and to bring a smile on their face.

Live Like Cameron is 100% volunteer, no one takes a paycheck. Our organization is run by friends and family members who loved Cameron and have a passion for helping our local children and teens who are battling cancer.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This is a tough question because we have so many great places in Flagler County. We would have to spend a day at Flagler Beach and visit all the great restaurants on the beachside. This would include lunch and/or dinner at Beach Belly Bobs, The Golden Lion, Flagler Fish Company, Tortugas Florida Kitchen and Bar, Taco Shop and Whaam Burger. We would have to stop at Flagler Beachfront winery for one of their famous wine slushies.

Palm Coast has many great restaurants as well. I love to visit our local nutrition clubs, Good Vibes, Pisces, & One Love to meet new people in such a positive environment. My favorite park is Central Park at Town Center where Cameron has his memorial rock. It is a beautiful place to take a walk and there are a lot of local events that take place there. A fun restaurant to have lunch or dinner at is HighJackers Restaurant that is located at the Flagler Airport. You can watch the planes come and go while enjoying some great food.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The first person that deserves recognition in my story is of course, Cameron. He is the inspiration behind our charity. He loved to bring joy to others, and we wanted to keep his memory alive by continuing to bring that joy to other children battling cancer. Our goal is to bring a smile to the faces of our local childhood cancer patients. I always see a little piece of Cameron’s smile when we can make another child smile.

My second recognition goes out to my community. They are the other inspiration behind our charity. My family and I were so overwhelmed by the amount of love and support that we were given during my son’s battle with cancer. We never felt alone. We had friends, family members and complete strangers offer us donations and support to help us through such a difficult time. We never had to worry about the financial burden that comes along with a cancer diagnosis, but most of all we felt loved, and Cameron had so many people going out of their way to bring him moments of joy.

Website: www.livelikecameron.org

Instagram: Live Like Cameron

Twitter: Live Like Cameron

Facebook: facebook.com/believeincameron (Team Cameron)