Leukemia is an awful disease. My cousin died at 37. Left two little girls. I'm deeply sorry for the loss of your young friend, Lizatola. Cancer is cruel and never more so than in the case of a child.
And I agree that the lack of empathy can be astounding. When the Twin Towers fell, my husband (sober at the time) said, "oh, j**** c*****, now this is all we're gonna hear about in the news." Seriously? THOUSANDS of people just got killed as the result of an apparent terrorist attack, we have no idea if even more locations are targeted, and you are worried about - what? missing the sportscast?!?!?!? But then this same man was sobbing at my cousin's funeral because he felt so awful for her children. I don't understand the inconsistency.