Daughter’s Death Leads to Renewed Purpose in Life

Patricia Fong was enjoying a typical workday at Amcore Investment Group on January 27, 2002 when she received a phone call that would change her life forever. The call was from her eighteen-year-old daughter, Megan, who was a freshman at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. An outstanding tennis player, Megan had earned a full athletic scholarship to Bradley and was looking forward to a bright future in sports and academia. But during practice one day, she began feeling abnormally tired and weak. A classmate encouraged her to go to the campus doctor. After a brief look at her blood work, Megan’s doctor admitted her to the hospital for further tests. That is exactly where Megan was when she phoned her mom. The news? Megan had been diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia. Could Patricia come right away?

Patricia is in shock

Nearly three hours away in Rockford, Illinois, Patricia was in shock. But she managed to collect her wits long enough to contact her husband and two sons, and the entire family went to be with Megan immediately.

The next day, Megan was transported by ambulance to Children’s Memorial Hospital, where she spent several months in treatment. When none of these treatments seemed to work, Megan and her family pinned their hopes on a bone marrow transplant. A search was conducted and three matches were found. To the surprise of Megan’s family, one of the matches was from Megan herself! It turns out she had volunteered to be a bone marrow donor the previous fall while in school. This was merely the first of many surprise discoveries Patricia made about her daughter during the course of her illness.

For example, even though Patricia and her husband had raised their children to be Christians, Patricia says when they went away to school, she had no way of knowing if they were still pursuing the faith. To Patricia’s delight, she discovered that Megan was deeply involved in a campus Christian fellowship, and she and her roommate were planning a major evangelism campaign during their second year of school. One of Megan’s biggest regrets about being sick was not being able to pursue this.

Secondary infection

After the bone marrow transplant though, it looked like everything was going to be okay after all. Patricia and her family relaxed somewhat, and Megan began making plans for when she could return to school. But as she lay there recovering, Megan developed a secondary infection of the brain that her weakened immune system was not able to fight. Before her family even had time to process this turn of events, Megan had passed away.

Devastated, the Fongs stumbled through the grieving process over the next several months, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Two years later, it continues to be a daily struggle for all of them.

“Sometimes, it is very, very hard, because we miss her so much,” says Patricia. “But I know God is good. When I feel low, through prayer and reading God’s Word, my strength is renewed and I am able to get back up and go on. It is a daily thing, but it just shows that we need God each day of our lives. When we depend on ourselves, it is just not going to happen.”

Making life count

For Patricia, Megan’s death has also led to something else: a renewed sense of urgency about making her own life count.

“We know our days are numbered. So what can we do with the time we have to make a difference, even for one person?”

Patricia’s answer to this question is not much different from her daughter’s. All she cares about now is making sure others know about God, so when their time comes, they will be ready to face eternity.

“If I am going to see my daughter in heaven, and I know I will, I would also like to see all of the other people that I love and care about,” says Patricia.

To this end, Patricia has created a tract that tells Megan’s story and explains how to find salvation through Jesus Christ. So far, 10,000 tracts have been printed and are being distributed in the United States and China. We also encourage you to pray the following prayer:

Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life. Make me be the person You want me to be.

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