HOUSTON — Barbara Bush’s legacy will live on through the thousands of lives she touched, including childhood cancer patients like her late daughter Robin.
Robin Bush would’ve been 68 years old today if leukemia hadn’t ended her life at the age of 3.
“The love for a parent from a child is unparalleled. And I think every parent can associate the great loss they would have with a child with cancer," Division Head of the Division of Cancer Medicine at MD Anderson, Dr. Patrick Hwu said.
The loss of their little girl sparked a fire in the grieving family which led them to join the forces with the MD Anderson Cancer Center.
“Our association with the Bushes has launched MD Anderson, and it’s reputation throughout the world. To be associated with a couple such as the Bushes is an honor for an institution such as ours," Vice President for Development at MD Anderson at Pat Mulvey said.
“He would come all the time to our research meetings and our functions. It was wonderful to see them so frequently," Dr. Hwu said.
They gave their time and money for innovative cancer research. Dr. Hwu was one of their recipients.
“There were some things we were doing that no one was doing yet, such at immunotherapy research, how we can target cancers with the immune system," Dr. Hwu said.
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They were the couple against cancer. The two were so involved, it was only fitting their little inspiration had her own part too.
“We felt it only appropriate to honor them by creating this clinic in honor of their daughter," Mulvey said.
The Robin Bush Child and Adolescent Center was dedicated in 2004 as an outpatient clinic for children battling cancer.
Over the years, the Bushes have helped raise $89 million for cancer research.
It’s the healthcare Robin wasn’t able to receive, but by devoting their own lives to the research, they’re hoping to give other parents the hope they never had.
“They knew that if we had all of the modern advances that we have now, maybe Robin wouldn’t have passed away," Dr. Hwu said.