In 2006, 15-year-old David Formica lost his courageous battle against leukemia.

For David's mother, Pam, and his sister, Heather, both of Jim Thorpe, David remains very much alive in their daily motivation to help medical researchers find a cure for this blood cancer.On April 27, Pam and Heather and 8,000 other participants from all over the country will run in the 13.1 Nike Women's Half Marathon 2014 in Washington, D.C., to continue what has now become a 12-year pledge to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society."My mom and I have done a lot of fundraising ever since David was diagnosed in 2002," said Heather, "but we've never run any kind of race, let alone a half-marathon." With a laugh, she said, "I kind of suckered my mom into this one.""This will be my greatest challenge because I am not athletic at all," Pam said. "We have been training since December and recently we did a 12-mile run. I was pooped at the 8-mile mark!"Unlike their stamina, Heather and Pam's inspiration has not waned since David was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2002.The diagnosis"He was a very active boy who was in his freshman year at Jim Thorpe High School," Heather said. "He came home from playing football one day and my mom noticed he had a lot of bruises on his body. She was concerned that they were not all from playing the game. The doctor at first said there was nothing wrong, but then David got bloody noses that wouldn't stop. He became very fatigued, and then he got white blood blisters all over his skin."Eventually David was taken to Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, where blood tests revealed that his white cell count was very high and that he indeed had leukemia.Soon after, while watching the movie, "A Walk to Remember," a story about a high school girl dying from cancer, David asked his sister, "Am I going to die?"An aggressive four-year fight against the disease ensued."His chemotherapy treatments resulted in three years of remission," Heather said.In June 2006, David wasn't feeling well again and tests confirmed that he had relapsed. He had developed rhizopus, a rare lung infection, but doctors determined he was not strong enough to have the infection "scraped" out of his lungs."He fought as hard and as long as he could," Pam said.The promiseDavid actually chose his own headstone and then made a list of everyone he wanted to attend his funeral. As his family prepared for the inevitable, he told Heather, "It's going to be OK.""Ever since he was very young, Mom, David and I called ourselves the three musketeers. We lived by their motto: All for one and one for all," Heather said. "David was my very best friend.""When a priest gave David his last rites, I told him I was mad at God," Pam said. "But David told me he wouldn't allow me to be mad because God gave him a healthy life until he was 11 years old."I made David a promise that I would keep fighting for all the other children who had this cancer."Since 2003, Pam, her boyfriend, Joseph Walsh, Heather and her grandparents have raised more than $75,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. In 2008, Pam started a new career working for the organization.The five team members have done a variety of fundraisers that include a zumbathon, several Light the Night 2-mile walks in Scranton, and a cake sale that recently earned $777 at the Jim Thorpe Market. They have also established a website to request donations. For their efforts, the Formica family won an award for being the top fundraisers in the Scranton area for the past five years. Heather received the Volunteer of the Year Award in Scranton for 2009, and she was honored as the top individual fundraiser for the Light the Night walk in 2013."If I had to estimate, I would say we put in about 200 fundraising hours a year," Pam said.Seeing resultsThe good news is that their efforts are being rewarded. About 10 years ago, a pill called Gleevac was developed to fight myelogenous leukemia, and to date it has a 95 percent success rate for patient remission.Very recently, Dr. Carl June of the University of Pennsylvania has pioneered what is now an FDA-approved treatment therapy for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. This one-time procedure called "Fire with Fire," extracts cancer T-cells from the patient, which are then chemically altered in a laboratory by infusing the cells with the HIV virus. The cells are then reinserted into the patient. There is no danger of the HIV developing into AIDS. Thus far, 23 people have been treated in a clinical trial with great success.One patient in particular is 7-year-old Emily Whitehead of Philipsburg. She was administered the treatment in Children's Hospital. After all other treatments had failed, the T-cell therapy now has Emily in remission for the past 18 months."It's really bittersweet," Pam said. "Fire with Fire obviously could not help David, but we are so happy for kids like Emily. I never thought we would see such progress for leukemia treatment in my lifetime."For the Formica family, their crusade now travels to Washington, D.C. Despite the odds against Heather and Pam finishing the race in the 15-minute-per-mile requirement, they both approach their task with undaunted confidence. Both mother and daughter will wear on their race shirts the last picture taken of David at Heather's high school graduation party.Heather knows both what to expect and how she will respond."When I get tired of running and I feel like I have nothing left to give, I will focus on how much David had to give to fight the disease, and that will get me through to the end."She adds with conviction, "He was my absolute hero.""I will continue to keep my promise to my son," said Pam. "During the race, when I feel like giving up, I will keep fighting to the finish because I will remember the moment when David couldn't fight anymore."Heather and Pam Formica have faith that their love for David will carry them to the end of the race, but if they do need an extra lift, they believe that it might just come from his pair of wings in heaven.Donations to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society can be made online at

pages.teamintraining.org/nikewhif14/hformica2012.