I had T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. Not many people get it. I was really sick for a long time and had a lot of chemo and blood transfusions.
My life was saved 26 times
I went through chemo for 842 days and had 26 transfusions of red blood cells and platelets. I couldn’t do much, because if I fell off a scooter or something, it would be really bad.
One time it took a really long time to get blood
There was one time when we were waiting and waiting because the hospital didn’t have enough blood to give me. They called all the other hospitals in our area and it finally came, but it took a few days, so my family was pretty scared.
Now I can ride my bike and play on the monkey bars
After the transfusions, I started playing on the monkey bars again. I was really weak at first, but it’s my favorite thing to do, so they helped me get stronger. I also like riding my bike and playing my trumpet. With the blood transfusions, I could play like a normal kid.
I wrote thank you cards to everyone
I handed out thank you cards to people who donated blood. Mom and Dad took me to some blood drives to give out cards there. We heard a lot of stories about why people were donating. One person told us his child had heart surgery.
“We relied on so many people to help keep our little guy alive, and we are so grateful for that. It’s not just to get him on the playground… it kept him alive.”
—Von’s parents