Will has been asking to write a post for a couple of weeks now to let Team Dalton about D-Feet Cancer’s latest events. I have asked him to wait for my own personal reasons. We are now 13 days away from the 13th birthday of the birthday boy. We have been planning ways to celebrate Dalton on his birthday that helps us both acknowledge our boy in our own ways.

Will asked me a couple of months ago if it would be okay if he ran from CHKD to our home on Dalton’s actual birthday. My reply was “I want to run away that day or even the entire birthday weekend”. I thought he was crazy for wanting to run almost 22 miles on February 19th. The weather first of all could be cold, rainy, snowy, sunny, warm, or a combination of all the above. The route is what made me the most nervous and still does. But I have learned that my fear of my husband getting hurt while running is a waste of time, because he is going to run whatever path he wants to. So after a week of thinking about it, my heart knew it was something Will needed to do to honor Dalton.

So I then in turn said well lets have a birthday party too that weekend. A 13th birthday is a big milestone birthday and deserves to be celebrated. The Dodge, Duck, Dive, D-Feet Cancer Dodge ball Tournament was decided to be the theme. We are going to celebrate Dalton on February 20th with dodge ball games and raising money for Ewing Sarcoma research. I must admit planning this weekend for Dalton is overwhelming, for me personally. So many emotions and memories that make it hard to be excited. But I do it for us and for the pediatric cancer families.

So here are the details to the weekend of celebrating our boy Saturday, February 19, 2022 (weather permitting for spectators and anyone who wants to run)

9:45 am : Gather at CHKD (the middle grassy area between Norfolk General and CHKD) –if you would like to run with Will reach out to us or just show up.

10:00 : Will and runners depart He plans on running 9 minute miles–see map in the pictures

10:45: 5 mile mark–there is a Harris Teeter that any runners that want to stop can have a ride waiting for them.

11:20: Mile 9 pit stop Food Lion: water, snack, bathroom break. Anyone can stop running, join in running, or just be there to say hello

11:30 off running again 12:40: Mile 16.5 Shorebreak Pizza for a snack and beer; again anyone can stop running, join in , or just be there to have a beer with Will.

1:30: Off running again

2:20 Mile 21 Trantwood Elementary (playground) where Jen and Rachel will join Will for the last mile to home. I don’t foresee weather stopping Will from running, but I will put something out here and social media if he is not going to run.

If you would like to donate $13 in honor of Dalton’s birthday please visit the foundation’s page to donate. Will has already raised over $10,000, just from Twitter. Please feel free to share!

February 20, 2022 We are celebrating with a Dodgeball Tournament. The mission is to celebrate by engaging our kids in a fun way to remember Dalton and to bring awareness to pediatric cancer. The details are in the image below if you would like to come watch or participate.

Elementary School division is full.

Middle School Division is full.

High School Division please register by February 13th. I have room for 7 more teams. If we don’t fill that up I can add more elementary teams. I have two teams that are on a waiting list.

Adult Division please register by February 13th. I have room for two more teams. If we don’t fill that up I can add more elementary teams. I have two teams that are on a waiting list.

Please use this link to register: https://forms.gle/YRnCNdWCoJgP8qMT6

The 13th birthday without our boy won’t be easy. My original plan of running away still sounds like a good idea, but I know it will be easier to celebrate with family, friends, and a community celebrating alongside of us. 

We have been hard at work on D-Feet Cancer The Dalton Fox Foundation. Jen and I have been planning a few events to honor Dalton’s birthday on February 19th and our wonderful D-Feet Cancer team is planning a 5K on May 21st as well as golf tournament in September and oyster roast in November. More details will be coming soon but for now we are ordering t-shirts.

We will be ordering D-Feet Cancer t-shirts by the end of December. All proceeds from the t-shirt sales will flow directly to Ewing Sarcoma researchers. There is quite a bit of exciting Ewing Sarcoma research taking place with doctors and scientists in Washington D.C., Cleveland, Philadelphia, Seattle, NYC and other cities. They are making real progress but need help to continue making progress. Your support and generosity enable us to help support this research.

I’ve attached a picture of the t-shirt. The color is heather blue, although the picture doesn’t really do the color justice. The shirts are also nice and soft; we received a few samples to make sure. If you would like a shirt, please click on the Google form link below and have at it. Some of the kids sizes are back-ordered, so feel free to order and you can pay when they come in. Thanks again for your support. Here’s the link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfNzMCQ8Co1VTYyYWWVBGCKN7uxjWfO0CPwFX0T6NXrgZqTqQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

You’ll notice on the form a section to tell us your favorite Dalton story. We love hearing about D. Please don’t feel that talking about Dalton in front of us will make us sad. It’s literally quite the opposite! We love hearing about our beloved boy. We know it’s awkward and you might not know what to say. Well we don’t really know what to say either but we do know that talking about Dalton makes us happier.

We hope everyone has a great Christmas break. Stay tuned for details about our upcoming events.

Will, Jen, and Rachel

By Will Fox – proud Dad of Rachel and Dalton

Welcome to D-Feet Cancer: The Dalton Fox Foundation’s website.

As many of you know, our curious, funny, and caring 12 y/o son Dalton passed away in May 2021 from metastatic Ewing Sarcoma. I (his dad Will) never thought my kid would get cancer. I figured that bald kids attached to IV poles were sad but didn’t do anything to help. Then my whole world changed when D, as we often called him, was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma on March 5, 2018.

Dalton endured over three years of treatment which included countless chemo infusions, eleven surgeries, the loss of his left leg, two relapses, radiation, and even a surprise tattoo but throughout it D kept his positive attitude and sense of humor. To know Dalton was to laugh and be inspired. Collectively known as Team Dalton, numerous organizations, charities, and people helped Dalton, Jen (D’s mom), Rachel (big sister), and me through this horrible cancer journey over the last three and a half years. We are eternally grateful for all the help, prayers, well wishes, and gifts. But, we would trade it all in a heartbeat to have Dalton here with us today.

That’s the reason Jen and I, with a lot of help from our friends and family, created D-Feet Cancer The Dalton Fox Foundation. Our goal is to raise money and awareness of pediatric cancer, specifically Ewing Sarcoma, and use that money to fund promising research. Simply stated, no kid should have to go through what Dalton went through and we are determined to honor him by helping find a cure for Ewing Sarcoma.

You can help in a few ways.

Please take some time and click around our homepage to learn more about Dalton, Ewing Sarcoma, and our first donation that is directly funding Ewing Sarcoma research. Dalton was a unique kid but unfortunately his story is not. While it’s too late to help D, we have an opportunity to continue to highlight and fund promising Ewing Sarcoma research. Please consider making a donation and helping kids like Dalton beat this horrible disease. D-Feet Cancer is a volunteer led organization with a low overhead so the vast majority of your donation will go directly to researchers working on better treatments and a cure.

You can also help by promoting awareness.

Pediatric cancer is severely underfunded both domestically and worldwide. Did you know just 4% of the U.S. Federal cancer research budget is allocated to pediatric cancer research? Our kids deserve more than 4%! Additionally, here in our home state of Virginia, not one penny is currently allocated to help kids with cancer. Just because kids don’t vote or contribute to campaigns shouldn’t lead to them being ignored. Please reach out to your local, state, and federal government officials to demand more government resources for these kids.

Thank you for being a part of #TeamDalton! Together we are going to make a difference and help kids D-Feet Cancer.