Each year, thousands of Georgia students get some of their education while in hospitals

ATLANTA — Treating her child for cancer was not a challenge Alicia Parker expected or ever wanted.

In 2021, her seven-year-old son Korbin came home complaining about pain in his foot.

“(Doctors) did not know what was going on. They were checking him for fractures, putting him in a boot,” Parker told Channel 2′s Michael Doudna.

An accurate diagnosis would elude doctors until a blood test came back positive for leukemia.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

“I was saying to myself, this can’t be it,” Parker said.

However, Parker refused to let her son fall behind because of a diagnosis. She wanted him to keep up with his classes even as he fought cancer.

“One of our main goals was to not allow the diagnosis to define him,” Parker told Channel 2 Action News.

So Korbin became one of the thousands of Georgia students getting an education while receiving care. Children’s Hospital of Atlanta estimates that more than 5,000 children a year receive help in planning their education post-diagnosis of a disease.

TRENDING STORIES:

• Citing constitutional separation of power, Ga. Supreme Court declines action on DA oversight rules
• Henry County inmate dies after being found unresponsive in cell, deputies say
• Legendary Atlanta Braves mascot, Chief Noc-a-Homa dies, family says

The hospital says they have 16 teachers who help educate kids and guide parents through the process.

“She was like, no, you worry about him, I got it. I will make the contacts. I will fill out the paperwork,” Parker said.

Children’s Hospital of Atlanta says more than 1,000 kids receive part of their education in the hospital. The 16 teachers on staff share the burden and teach in classrooms on different hospital floors.

“Just to get him out of the room and out of the environment, they had a classroom he could go to,” Parker said.

Parker says the employees helped adjust the education plan to fit with her son. While she says it was not as good as going to school every day as a normal healthy kid, it provided valuable education to keep her son from falling too far behind.

This October, Korbin was declared cancer-free and had his last treatment of chemo. He is now back in class, healthy without restrictions.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:

UGA and Georgia Tech fraternity brothers to run game ball from Athens to Atlanta for charity

©2023 Cox Media Group