The Cure Starts Now, Houston Hearts of Gold chapter was formed in honor and memory of our daughter, Nicole Faith Lee. Nicole was a spunky 7-year-old native Texas gal who wanted to be a teacher when she grew up. She was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) when she was 5-years-old. Before her diagnosis she was involved in activities from ballet to soccer. She tried everything.
On September 2, 2012, The Lees formed the Houston chapter of The Cure Starts Now, a pediatric brain cancer research foundation. It was Nicole’s seven-year anniversary and she had been in heaven as long as she had been with them. The Lees decided that a walk would be a great way to start raising awareness and funds with their community. The walk is at Memorial High School, because Nicole would have been a student there.
The walk was called 7 Rings of Gold Walk, seven for the seven years she was with her family and the seven years since then, and because “gold is her favorite color and the streets in heaven are paved with gold. Nicole never gave up hope for a cure and neither will we.
Our prayer was that she could live long enough for a treatment to be discovered. Sadly, she died 18 months after diagnosis. Nicole never gave up hope for a cure and neither will we.
