A mother mourning the loss of her son to a brain tumor decided to write to former President Joe Biden after his cancer diagnosis, never imagining he would respond personally. An estimated 626,140 Americans will die from cancer in 2026, according to the National Cancer Institute. While more people are surviving cancer than ever before, with the overall five-year survival rate for all cancers reaching about 70.5 percent, the loss of a loved one to this devastating disease is something many families continue to endure.
Melina Newcomb, from Moneta, Virginia, lost her son Levi to cancer in 2019. "I could write an entire book about Levi," Newcomb told Newsweek. He won the Citizenship Award every year at his school, which they have since renamed the Levi Mayo Award.
He loved dad jokes, superheroes, fried chicken, and his family." When Levi was just four years old, he was diagnosed with stage IV high-risk medulloblastoma, a malignant brain tumor. "Following his surgery, he had to relearn everything," Newcomb said. "From swallowing and talking to crawling and walking, all while undergoing radiation and chemotherapy." For 14 years, Levi and his family were able to enjoy a relatively normal childhood, but it didn't last.
In 2018, doctors discovered that Levi's cancer had developed a second cancer. This time, it was an undifferentiated sarcoma caused by the radiation treatments he received as a child. "He passed away four days after Christmas in 2019," Newcomb said.
Living with the grief of losing her son has been "unbearable" at times for Newcomb. "I spent the first year after his passing in bed, which was compounded by the COVID-19 lockdowns that prevented me from attending in-person grief therapy or seeing my doctors," she said. "Almost seven years later, I still mourn my son every day.
Just today, I heard his funeral song on the radio and cried all the way home." Sharing memories and discussing the loss of a loved one can be an important part of adapting to bereavement. Research summarized by the Hospice Foundation of America highlights that many people process grief through emotional expression and conversation, while support from family, friends, and wider social networks can help build resilience following a loss. While friends, family, therapists, and medical professionals have all been a source of strength for Newcomb, she recently decided to open up to someone else about her experience with loss: former President Joe Biden.
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