Teen Survivor’s stem cell transplant Spurs $175,000 Fundraising Drive For children’s Ward
USA: Grady Smith, now 15, survived a life-threatening genetic illness after a stem cell transplant and has turned his recovery into a sustained campaign to help other children. Diagnosed at age eight with the gene mutation that causes adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), Grady underwent a transplant and, six months later in 2019, began advocating for newborn screening so treatment can begin as early as possible. That push included outreach that helped lead to New Hampshire offering the test.
What began as a modest collection of gift cards at Boston children’s Hospital has grown into an organized, eight-year effort to support families on Six West, the hospital’s rare disease ward. Grady and his family moved from small donations to a broader fundraising program that has generated about $175,000 to date. Those resources have been applied to holiday programming, gifts and special events intended to ease long hospital stays and create moments of joy for pediatric patients and their relatives.
Doctors and staff describe the campaign as providing more than material support, calling it a source of hope for families facing difficult treatments. Grady, who now plays basketball and credits sports with helping his recovery, has become a visible example of resilience: achieving milestones clinicians once feared might be out of reach and encouraging other young patients to see possibility beyond diagnosis. Medical caregivers emphasize that the drive has both practical impact and emotional significance for the ward.
In the campaign’s eighth and final year, Grady has set a new fundraising objective tied to his transplant anniversary in late September and his personal milestones. The initiative keeps the transplant at the center of the story — as the lifesaving intervention that enabled his recovery and as the catalyst for a sustained program of giving that has benefited dozens of families and brought community attention to early screening and pediatric care.
