Occasionally, when you walk through the halls of Northside Medical Associates in Pell City, you’ll notice a trend — just about everyone is dressed in gold.

The matching T-shirts aren’t part of a uniform. Rather, they’re part of a cause. Look a little closer and the message is clear. The shirts were created to raise awareness for childhood cancer, and they’re worn with pride.

For more information on Northside Medical, visit the website at northsidemed.com or find them on Facebook.

The story behind them began years ago, but it’s still prevalent in the minds of every staff member at the medical facility. On Dec. 26, 2006, Tommy and Valerie Shear had an appointment scheduled for their son, Jacob. It was his four-year checkup with their pediatrician, Dr. Howard Bearman.

All was routine until Dr. Bearman noticed a concerning mass on Jacob’s stomach. Bearman immediately sent Jacob for a more in-depth screening.

At Children’s of Alabama, doctors discovered an aggressive tumor on Jacob’s kidney. He was scheduled for another appointment the following day, but between the time of the tumor’s discovery Tuesday to the follow-up on Wednesday, the cancer had swallowed his entire kidney.

Jacob was rushed into surgery, where his right kidney and two lymph nodes were removed. After the surgery, he underwent a grueling 26 weeks of chemotherapy and six days of radiation.

The treatment was highly effective, and soon after Jacob was declared cancer-free. But he has been dealing with the aftereffects ever since.

“The fear that it will come back is always in the back of your mind,” Jacob’s mother Valerie said. “No parent should have to go through that.”

Valerie Shear is the intake manager for Northside Medical Associates. She started working for the company nine years ago — three months before Jacob was diagnosed with cancer. But from the moment she received that terrible news, the staff at Northside Medical Associates was by her family’s side. Even today, years after Jacob received an “all-clear” from Dr. Raymond Watts, the staff still wear their gold shirts to show support both for the Shear family and for the many others who suffer from childhood cancer.

“Northside was incredible to me throughout the process,” Shear said. “The staff would provide us with dinner after chemo treatments and show us love and support in any way they could.”

This open support for those battling childhood cancer may have begun with Jacob, but the support surpasses just the Shear family. The staff at Northside Medical is conscientious of every child who is battling cancer and the families of those fighting. All staff members want to see a cure found so that no other child has to go through what Jacob endured and those children are the reason behind the support.

For more information on Northside Medical, visit the website at northsidemed.com or find them on Facebook.