Mitch Albom, a well-known author, journalist, and philanthropist, dedicated his memoir, Finding Chika, to his adopted daughter, who died of a brain tumor.

The author’s memoir summarizes his daughter’s story as well as the heartbreaking reality of losing a young daughter to the deadly disease.

Mitch Albom net worth:

Mitch Albom is an American best-selling author, screenwriter, journalist, broadcaster, and musician who has a net worth of $10 million. 

Chika’s Story

The devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010, which killed over 100,000 people, still sends chills down people’s spines.

Chika was only a few days old when the devastating earthquake struck. Her family, on the other hand, survived the disaster, but they were left homeless after their house collapsed as a result of the earthquake.

Unfortunately, Chika’s mother died during childbirth two years later. Following the misfortune, Chika was taken in by an orphanage run by Albom, Have Faith Haiti Mission.

She was diagnosed with a brain tumor a few years later.

In an interview with Fox 2, Albom stated,

The report came back in two sentences: she has a mass on her brain, and no one in Haiti can help her with it.

With no hope of saving her life in Haiti, the author brought her to the United States to seek a cure. Albom stated that they had bonded like a family throughout the treatment process, and Albom and his wife, Janine, adopted Chika. The couple’s family of two grew to three, with Chika as their first child.

The couple spent nearly two years looking for a cure, but nothing could save Chika, who died on April 7, 2017, at the age of seven.

Furthermore, in an interview with People, Albom stated that Chika taught him to prioritize his children over himself.

On November 5, 2019, Albom published Finding Chika, a book in which he wrote the sentimental story of his daughter’s life and the joy of her childhood.