What does it take to transform a moment of personal loss into a lifelong mission? For JD Slajchert, it was the friendship with a 10-year-old boy named Luc Bodden that drove him to his lifelong advocacy work.
Slajchert’s journey began in the suburban town of Oak Park, Calif. From a student to a hometown hero, Slajchert transformed his life-changing friendship into a mission of supporting kids with sickle cell disease.
While attending Oak Park High School, Slajchert met Bodden, a young boy fighting a battle against sickle cell disease.
“My story is all rooted in basketball. I met Luc, who was just my biggest fan, and as an Oak Park High School basketball player, Luc used to go to all of my games because he had something called sickle cell disease, and he couldn’t go to pro sports games, Slajchert said. “Going to the high school games was his big outing and we ended up striking this incredible bond and friendship.”
In 2016, Bodden died sickle cell disease. Through his grieving, Slajchert said he felt an internal calling to advocate for other children affected by this disease.
“I wrote the book ‘Moonflower’ which gave me a real chance to tell our story and also share every lesson I learned from Luc,” Slajchert said. “What I also didn’t really realize at that time is that it would lead to my nonprofit work, such as the LucStrong Foundation and the TED Talk I just gave.”
In 2017, Slajchert and the Bodden family collaborated in creating the LucStrong Foundation, a nonprofit that supports children that suffer from sickle cell disease.
“When a kid has a bone marrow transplant for sickle cell, they have to be in the hospital for almost a full year until their immune system is strong enough to re-enter normal life. At LucStrong, we give money in the form of grants to help these families that are dealing with financial hardship,” Slajchert said.
Advocacy comes in many different forms, and for Slajchert, his way is through public speaking, fundraising and collaborating with various organizations.
“I can kind of hear [Luc’s] voice in my head still, telling me, ‘you’re not doing enough still,’ and I love that becauseI feel him pushing me even after all these years later. Speaking as an advocate for Los Angeles is really important to me too, because we’re fighting for a cause that needs our attention,” Slajchert said.
As part of his advocacy work, Slajchert teaches at California Lutheran University where he educates students on how to use their voice to implicate change in their communities.
He teaches a course called “Stand up and be Heard: Storytelling that Matters” which he describes as a public speaking class on “how to maximize your story to impact people.”
“I’m loving this new challenge of becoming a college professor. It’s not something I ever imagined I would go on to do, but it’s an exciting new thing,” he said.
Mental health can be challenging to maintain, especially when grieving. But the support Slajchert receives from his family is a crucial part of his healing and well-being, he said.
“My family and my support system is unbelievable. I get a lot of credit for a lot of different things, but I have so many people that go to war for me every single day, and I try to go to war for them too. It’s not just one sided but people really protect me, support me in so many different ways a lot of people don’t know about, and I think that’s helped my mental health a lot. For example, I never go to a speech by myself. I never go to an interview clearly by myself. I have people who are always here to, you know, hold my hand through each emotional speech, interview, press, moment, whatever it is,” Slajchert said.
The National Marrow Donor Program formerly called Be the Match, is a nonprofit organization that supports kids with blood diseases by matching people for bone marrow transplants. Slajchert’s newest sponsorship focuses on a teenage boy named Tegan.
“Tegan is a kid that I am sponsoring and helping share his story right now, because he needs a bone marrow transplant as soon as he can. He’s had sickle cell disease his whole life, and now I believe he’s 16 years old, and needs a second bone marrow transplant. His family has been kind enough to allow us to share as much as we can about him, to help get the word out and hopefully save his life,” Slajchert said. “I feel that Tegan would be a great story for me to help promote because of how similar he is to Luc and having sickle cell. I’m thinking about Tegan all the time, wanting to do my best to share his story.”
For those wondering how they can make a difference and get involved, Slajchert encourages people to take action and support kids like Tegan through charitable organizations and donations.
“Join the registry. If you’re between the ages of 18 to 35, sign up today, and you’ll be sent a kit to swab your cheek. It’s very simple, and you could potentially save someone’s life. Also consider donating to the LucStrong Foundation. LucStrong and our mission there is so vital to my heart,” he said.
Slajchert shares his final message about the importance of every interaction.
“I think my clear and shining message is very simple and very important. It is that one small interaction can change your whole life, and don’t underestimate the power one person can have in one moment.”
