Meet Sonny

We met Sonny when he was just ten years old and in the midst of his treatment for Leukemia. After months of being isolated, being told what he could and couldn’t do, missing school, taking medication, and missing out on activities, he was ready to have an adventure. He was still on treatment, but he didn’t let that slow him down. Sonny came to several Shining Stars programs where he rafted, rode a horse, swam, hiked, took a cooking class, snowboarded, snowmobiled, and played with new friends!  

“At Shining Stars, they throw you in a boat and tell you to use your arms to whitewater raft and jump off of a forty-foot cliff and see how it feels,” shared Sonny. “Doing all of that told me that I wasn’t handicapped. I wasn’t someone that had to be restricted. Because of Shining Stars is why I started to go back to sports and games, instead of locking myself up in the house. It told me you can be normal. You are normal. It also gave me the memories for everything I lost. For those times I couldn’t do anything but stay in the hospital and eat hospital food. It helps make up for the lost time.”

While Sonny is now cancer free and pursuing his dream to be a pilot, he wants others to know that programs like Shining Stars are important because the experience of having cancer never really leaves you.

“I live with the anxiety of not knowing what is going to happen or if it is going to come back. You can just be living your daily life, and everything is going well, and then it will come back. My doctor told me that there was a high chance it would come back when I was 18. From the ages of 14 – 18 I always thought about it.”

Sonny has been attending programs every year for the last ten years with his entire family. He is now a part of our newest program to help young adults navigate the unique challenges they face as pediatric cancer survivors. For Sonny, it has been life-changing for him that he could continue participating in programs long after his diagnosis and treatment.

“At Shining Stars, it is very important because you went through things you never ever thought you would go through. In your mind you never think anyone else goes through it, so you go to camp and talk about one of the worst things that ever happened to you and someone goes, ‘Oh I had that too!’ It gives you a support system of people who actually understand.”

Sonny has some powerful advice for other kids who might be facing cancer. “Don’t be afraid to be weird or to be unique. You are already different. What you have been through is different…There is always going to be one person, at least, who likes you. No matter how weird you get or what you do, just hold on tight until you can find that one person who will support you.”