It Started with One Man’s Prayer

The work that goes on at St. Jude can only be described as the culmination of kindness and the result of a prayer made by a struggling entertainer during the last years of the Great Depression.

This young man, Danny Thomas, had dreamed of being an entertainer since his very early days. But those were not easy times, and the future didn’t look much better for this talented, but seemingly hopeless, dreamer. His job prospects were poor, and his wife was expecting their first child. He didn’t have the money to pay for her hospital stay.

His struggles led him to a church in Detroit, where he prayed this prayer to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of hopeless cases: “Help me find my place in life, and I will build you a shrine where the poor and the helpless and the hopeless may come for comfort and aid.” Please note that he didn’t say, “I’ll give you some of the money I make,” or “I’ll make a donation to a shrine.” He didn’t ask for wealth or fame or fortune . . . simply to “find my place.”

For those who are not familiar with Danny Thomas, it can safely be said that he “found his place.” As an entertainer, Thomas was the star of a weekly television show that ran for eleven years. At his peak, he was one of the most highly recognized figures in entertainment. But even during his rise to success, he never forgot his promise . . . he never let it die.

Thomas did more than just sell his name for St. Jude. He was the driving force behind the building of this hospital. He didn’t just give some money with instructions to build a hospital. He had made a promise . . . a promise to build a shrine.

And so a shrine he built. St. Jude Children’s Research Center was the first institution built for the single purpose of conducting research for childhood diseases, mainly cancer. Constructed in its original design in 1962, it has treated over 20,000 children from all over the world. Built at a time when childhood cancer was considered a hopeless cause (there’s that prayer, “. . . where the hopeless can come”), survivor rates are currently over 75 percent. Compare that figure to a death rate of 95 percent when the hospital opened its doors.

Readers who are unfamiliar with St. Jude will be interested to know that not one of the children’s families has ever paid a dime for treatment at the hospital (“poor . . . helpless . . . hopeless” . . . there’s that prayer again).

One more thing: It is estimated that for every child saved at St. Jude there are 1,000 saved around the world. Simply stated, it is estimated that the research done there not only saves lives but also avoids the same illness in others. This is the living impact that one man’s prayer of over forty years ago has today.