Lyle Prescott was an energetic and active boy who loved music, dancing, Pokemon, Cub Scouts, coloring and going to school before his death on Nov. 5, 2023, two days before his seventh birthday.

Lyle’s parents, Dave and Gina (Gigliotti) Prescott, and his brother, Judd, 12, who he idolized, want to do everything they can to help parents whose treasured children have been given a cancer diagnosis, and they want to help fund research to find a cure for childhood cancers.

So they teamed up with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, which was founded by the late Alexandra Scott, who, at age 4, set up a lemonade stand in her front yard to raise money for the doctors at the hospital where she received treatment, so they could find a cure for childhood cancers.

The Prescotts will hold “Lyle’s Legacy” from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday, June 17, in the parking lot at North Main Street Church of God, 1201 N. Main St. Extension, Butler.

Servings of lemonade will be available for $1 each, and a QR code for online donations plus a jar for cash and checks will be available.

All proceeds will benefit Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, which funds research for better treatments and cures for childhood cancer, and emotional, financial and logistical support to childhood cancer families.

The Prescotts, of Summit Township, said their world was forever changed when Lyle was diagnosed with high-grade glioma in spring 2021. The aggressive tumor was found in his cervical spine.

“The doctor said he had less than a year to live,” Gina said.

Lyle had surgery at UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, where they offered radiation treatments to buy the boy a few more weeks.

Gina said it was discovered through testing that her husband, Dave, unknowingly passed a genetic condition called Li-Fraumeni syndrome on to his sons.

The syndrome signals a predisposition to developing cancer at any age, she said.

“It’s not if, but when,” Gina said. “It was a blow to the family just learning that.”

Dave said the discovery of Li-Fraumeni syndrome has not caused him undue stress about his own health.

“For myself, I’ve never been one to worry,” he said. “Obviously, I feel a lot of guilt for passing it on to (Lyle and Judd.)”

Since UPMC Children’s Hospital does not offer genetic counseling, the Prescotts moved Lyle’s case to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where the Li-Fraumeni syndrome was discovered.

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Gina said, was able to offer specialists in the syndrome, and the family worked with genetic counselors there.

Dave and Judd are regularly tested to check for cancer through a strict medical protocol for those with the syndrome, Dave said.

Lyle made it three years after his diagnosis, as opposed to the single year he was originally given.

“I think it was because he took oral chemotherapy,” Gina said. “The first trial they had him on, it worked for a year, meaning it kept anything from growing.”

After one year, she said, the trial failed when the disease “learned” to circumvent the treatment.

Lyle had a craniotomy to determine if another cancer had developed, then started a second trial treatment that gave him almost another year of clear scans and no tumors, Gina said.

The young boy with the impish grin also had weekly blood work in addition to two rounds of radiation.

“He tolerated it with a smile on his face,” Gina said, her voice cracking at the memory.

She said Lyle’s doctor at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Dr. Cassie Kline, and the entire staff were “beyond amazing and loving.”

While there, the Prescotts learned about Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, and received funding from the organization to help with gas and expenses involved with driving Lyle back and forth to Philadelphia.

“Families put in a situation like that literally do not have any clue where to turn or what to do and the last thing on their minds is worrying about travel expenses and hotels,” Dave said.

He said for six straight weeks, Gina stayed in Philadelphia with Lyle and he stayed at home with Judd, then they switched.

“For a couple of months, we drove to Philadelphia almost every week,” Dave said. “That gets expensive.”

Their families also helped in ways large and small after Lyle’s diagnosis, including one of Gina’s five siblings coming to stay with her for a week, in a constant rotation, the entire time Lyle was ill.

“They are amazing,” Gina said.

She said her family’s strong Christian faith has sustained her in these last seven months as she has dealt with the loss of her youngest child.

“We know without a doubt exactly where Lyle is and find comfort that we’ll be with him in eternity,” Gina said.

She has leaned on Daniel 12:3 since Lyle’s passing.

That Bible verse “Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever” was used on Lyle’s funeral card, Gina said.

Dave said the family learned, through meeting other families on a pediatric cancer journey, that just 3.7% of all government funding for cancer research is used to study pediatric cancers.

So the Prescotts decided to hold Lyle’s Legacy lemonade stand to raise money for the pursuits of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.

Gina said now that she and Dave are aware of the impact on parents of a pediatric cancer diagnosis, they had to help.

She said everyone will be welcomed to the lemonade stand, where Lyle will be remembered through pictures and stories, and information on pediatric cancer will be available.

“We want to raise more funding for other families going through what we had to,” Gina said. “The money also goes directly back into pediatric cancer research, including new drug trials for any type of pediatric cancer.”

This is the family’s second lemonade stand, with last year’s event raising $4,500 for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation just through family and friends.

The Prescotts hope for a great turnout on June 17 in memory of the boy they will always love and cherish.

“It’s important for me to get the word out there about needing more funding for these babies,” Gina said.