At 26, Hortense is a pediatric intern and the big sister of Ostian, 15, who was diagnosed five years ago with a brain tumor. Her story serves as a powerful reminder: behind every sick child is an entire family fighting cancer, hoping, and needing our support.
When Cancer Shakes an Entire Family
“Illness is like anything else in life. You fall in love, you get pregnant… it just happens to you, and you can’t always see it coming,” says Hortense. For this family with five children, Ostian’s diagnosis was an earthquake that struck every member, profoundly transforming their bonds and their daily lives.
But from this upheaval emerged an unexpected strength. “We became much closer as siblings,” she explains. The children learned to open up, to share their frustrations, their fears, and their hopes. And above all, they discovered in their little brother an extraordinary courage.
The Inspiring Strength of Sick Children
What strikes Hortense, both as a sister and as a future pediatrician, is the unique ability children have to face illness with remarkable resilience. “Children, when they are seriously ill, experience it with a certain strength that we adults sometimes struggle to have. They carry so much hope.”
Ostian fully embodies this strength for life. Despite the illness, he plays tennis, sings in a choir, sees his friends, and even writes a book. “It really feels like he’s the one carrying us, carrying our parents too,” his sister says with admiration.
Beyond Stereotypes: Real Life with Cancer
Hortense’s journey allowed her to deconstruct her own preconceptions about cancer. “I imagined a patient with a tumor as someone depressed. But in reality, life with cancer isn’t like that at all.”
The reality is made of ups and downs, of worry and joy, of hospital visits but also school, activities, and projects. Life continues—at a different rhythm—but it remains a life to be lived fully.
The Essential Role of Associations Like Imagine for Margo
In this fight, associations play an irreplaceable role. While the hospital provides therapeutic care, “a doctor, a nurse, a caregiver—they can’t be there 24 hours a day,” Hortense points out.
That’s where associations like Imagine for Margo come in: they offer support, comfort, testimonies, and above all, a listening ear during moments of solitude. “Parents of sick children sometimes feel a bit helpless, a bit alone. They feel like the people around them don’t really understand what’s happening.”
These associations are present in those moments, offering concrete support to families through well-being activities that allow children and their loved ones to rediscover moments of joy and normalcy. At the same time, Imagine for Margo funds research and helps doctors find viable therapeutic solutions to cure all children and teenagers.
Why Your Support Is Vital
Hortense’s message is clear: “Keep faith in life, whatever it may be. Keep faith in the child who is sick, who remains above all a child.”
But faith alone is not enough. Pediatric cancer research needs funding to progress. Children’s tumors are different from those of adults, requiring specific treatments and dedicated research.
“Get involved however you can—give, if you can, a bit of money; give your time, your listening, your kindness. And why not devote your life to it if you feel called to research or something else—because there is a real need,” says Hortense.
Take Action Now for Children Like Ostian
Every donation, every act of support helps to:
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Fund research and develop new treatments adapted to pediatric cancers
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Provide well-being activities that give sick children and their families moments of relief and happiness
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Support families in their daily lives disrupted by illness
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Break isolation and create connections between affected families
As the year comes to an end, make a donation to Imagine for Margo and become an active part of the fight against childhood cancer.
Because behind every sick child, there is a family fighting. Because every child deserves to live, laugh, play, and build a future. Because research can save lives.
Join us so that every child can say, like Ostian: “Go, Fight, Win!”