Children’s of Alabama reports that more than 190 children are diagnosed with cancer in Alabama each year. The diagnoses range from leukemia and lymphoma to brain and spinal cord tumors, bone cancers and other rare childhood cancers. For most people, those numbers are simply statistics — until the words “your child has cancer” become personal making them so much more.

For Jason and Brittany Roberts, that reality arrived more than a year ago when their son, Will Roberts, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. Since then, the family has publicly shared Will’s fight, offering encouragement to other families facing pediatric cancer while also raising awareness about the healthcare and treatment barriers many families encounter during serious illness.

Along the way, Brittany Roberts has documented not only the difficult moments, but also the faith, kindness and support her family has received throughout the journey. Recently, that experience intersected with politics when she publicly endorsed Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jared Hudson in a lengthy social media post centered less on campaign promises and more on character.

Roberts admitted she knew little about Hudson before her family’s battle with cancer unexpectedly brought him into their lives.

“Y’all, I never intended to get involved in politics,” Roberts wrote. “Before Will’s diagnosis, I was one of those people who complained about problems in the system but never paid enough attention to who was actually trying to fix them. Then life forced me to.”

According to Roberts, Hudson contacted the family and asked if he could visit Will during one of the most stressful periods of their lives as they prepared to travel to California for an experimental treatment option.

“That afternoon, I spent most of my time going back and forth with doctors through phone calls and emails while trying not to completely lose it,” Roberts wrote.

While Hudson visited with Will, Roberts said she was overwhelmed trying to navigate the uncertainty surrounding her son’s treatment and the logistics of uprooting the family for care far from home.

“But what stood out to me most wasn’t military stories or politics,” Roberts wrote. “It was compassion.”

“Before leaving our house, he stood in our living room and prayed over our son,” she added.

Roberts said Hudson’s support did not end after the initial visit.

“Since then, he has continued checking on Will and our family long after the cameras, visits, and viral moments faded away,” she wrote.

The Roberts family has drawn widespread support online throughout Will’s cancer battle, particularly after videos shared by the family helped bring broader attention to efforts to secure experimental treatment access for the teenager.

In her endorsement, Roberts said those experiences shaped how she evaluated leadership and public service.

“One thing I respected about Jared is that he didn’t pretend to already have all the answers,” she wrote. “He listened. He asked questions. He wanted to understand how families like ours are falling through the cracks.”

Roberts also reflected on how her family’s experience changed the way she views leadership.

“Maybe real understanding doesn’t come from debates, headlines, or perfectly rehearsed speeches,” she wrote.

“Maybe sometimes it comes from sitting on a couch in rural Alabama watching a family desperately try to save their child.”

Hudson, a former Navy SEAL and law enforcement officer, is facing U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) in the June 16 Republican primary runoff for Alabama’s open U.S. Senate seat.

Roberts closed her endorsement by encouraging voters to look beyond campaign slogans and focus on character.

“So on voting day, do your research. Pay attention. Ask questions,” she wrote. “But also pay attention to character, compassion, humility, and who people are when there’s nothing to gain from showing up.”

“Because sometimes the best insight into a person’s leadership comes from how they treat a little ‘nobody’ family in rural Alabama during the hardest season of their lives,” Roberts added. “And for that, our family will always be grateful.”

Sherri Blevins is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You may contact her at [email protected].