PHILADELPHIA − It all happened in one day. Just after Thanksgiving last year, Eva Sanchez's son Zayden wasn't feeling well, complaining of pain in his legs and looking pale, but his parents chalked it up to the teen's love of tae kwon do, in which he has a black belt. But when Zayden asked his mom to pick him up from his friend's house and couldn't walk to the car, Eva knew something was very wrong.
She took him to a hospital near their home on a Florida Air Force base, thinking he had a severe case of the flu or COVID. A battery of tests followed, and Eva and her husband, Jeno, heard the devastating diagnosis: Their son had leukemia. He would be taken immediately by ambulance to a hospital in Pensacola, where he'd remain for 48 days.
A few months later, Zayden would undergo a bone marrow transplant at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia − 1,100 miles from home. "It was a long night," Eva remembered as she sat in the cafeteria at the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia, where they have been since April. That long night was only the beginning of a lengthy ordeal for the family, one that's included Zayden's treatment, surgeries, complications (including some temporary paralysis) and physical therapy.
Amid all their worries, though, the Sanchez family has had what Jeno calls "peace of mind": the Ronald McDonald House − now marking its 50th anniversary as a safe, free place for families to stay so they can concentrate on their children's recovery. 50 years ago, another ch.