Since Genesis was 17, she’s been working to serve others. This lifelong passion to help those in need began when she was 8 years old. At the time, her father was an assistant chef at a restaurant in the World Trade Center. On the morning of September 11, 2001, work called and asked if he could fill in an extra shift for an absent employee. He was off that day, but agreed to come in.
The tragic events of that day would ultimately take her father. But through the shock and grief that followed, Genesis always remembered the images of the first responders who leapt into action to help people they didn’t even know. She knew from that day that she was called to serve, just like them.
When she was only 16, she was trained as a nurse-assistant, and entered the workforce a year later. By 19, she became an EMT in New York City. In 2016, she and her new husband, a fellow EMT, moved to Texas to start their own family.
But when her son, Ashton, was diagnosed with Leukemia in November of 2021, everything changed. His new treatment regimen at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas meant multiple appointments a week traveling 27 miles each way. The time and costs needed to make this happen were significant. But as Genesis has said, this is not just Ashton’s fight.
As someone whose instinct is to help, to do, to act, undergoing her son’s Leukemia treatment at Cook Children’s has been especially difficult for Genesis. 4-year-old Ashton is immunocompromised, so the family has often been relegated to the house to protect him from disease. In order to take him to his appointments, Genesis has had to leave her job, and Ashton’s dad works countless hours as a deputy sheriff to make ends meet for his family.
Even though Genesis is the one driving Ashton to treatment, it can feel like she’s had to take a backseat. “I’ve worked since I was 17-years-old,” Genesis told Compass to Care, “and as a mom not being able to help provide, it’s been challenging, especially with how expensive gas is these days.”
Both of their roles look very different right now, but the philosophy to “keep pushing through” is the same. Ashton, who is curious beyond his years, asks questions every step of the way of his appointments, constantly wondering “What’s next?” What’s next is clear for Genesis. It’s to fight for Ashton as a family, by getting through each and every treatment together until the cancer is gone. Compass to Care helps by providing gas funds every trip so that getting to the hospital is never a concern, but as always it’s the family’s determination that leads the way.
“We have to sacrifice things and change regularly around Ashton’s diagnosis at the moment,” said Genesis, “but it’s slowly getting easier and easier. To parents whose children are newly diagnosed I would tell them that the sun does come out after the storm. Just push through.”
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