His name is William Bunn. He just turned 8, has a little sister he calls Sissy, and has adorable dimples.
He’s like every other little boy. He wants to live a normal life. But for the past three years, life for this first grader at Raleigh's Douglas Elementary has been anything but normal.
"He’s gone through eight rounds of chemo", William’s mom, Amy Bunn, explained. "Two bone marrow transplants, full spot radiations, more surgeries than I can count. Last May, we got full remission and had eight months of a normal life. A normal life.”
That was until February, when his rare cancer - stage four neuroblastoma - came back. Now, it’s more aggressive and there is no known cure. Amy Bunn says she has faith in God and believes because William beat cancer once, he’ll do it again. But that means chemotherapy again, which William says is scary.
"Because with the chemo, sometimes I throw up and that is scary," he explained.
Because William's cancer is so rare - accounting for just 7 percent of all childhood cancers - research is key. That takes money, which is why friends and family have organized the first ever 5k Bunn Fun Run and Walk for neuroblastoma research and the William Bunn Fund.
It’s this Saturday at the Quail Corners Shopping Center in Raleigh. Organizers are also raffling off some fantastic donated items, including a signed Duke University basketball, Carolina Hurricanes hockey stick and iPods.
Whatever it takes for William.
Williams dad, Mark Bunn, choking back tears said, "I was watching a tape by Jim Valvano, and he said there are three things you do in a day. You listen, laugh and cry. And there’s a lot of truth to that."
And there is a lot of truth to Amy’s new way of living.
"I listen to William. He plays, he goes to school. He’s living, today! So that’s what I do. I get up. I breathe. Day by day," she said.
They're having faith that one day William will be the first in this rare fight, to win.
For more on William and his fight, visit: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/williambunn
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