Manhattan Child With Cancer Gets Play Set From Volunteers

MANHATTAN, IL — Happier days are ahead for a 3-year-old Manhattan boy who was diagnosed with cancer last year and his family, thanks in part to a generous donation from a group of volunteers who decided to donate and build an outdoor play set for the boy.

Volunteers from Amazon and Roc Solid Foundation were busy Friday in Manhattan setting up the surprise gift for Brendan Burns, who was diagnosed in July 2021 with neuroblastoma.

Neuroblastoma is a rare cancer that affects fewer than 20,000 people a year, usually children under the age of 5, according to the Mayo Clinic.

It arises in and around the adrenal glands, which have similar origins to nerve cells and sit atop the kidneys, but the cancer can also develop in other areas of the abdomen, and in the chest, neck, and near the spine where groups of nerve cells exist.

Brendan first started showing signs of neuroblastoma shortly after is 2nd birthday when he developed dark circles around his eyes, sometimes referred to as "raccoon eyes," his mother, Megan Burns, said. At first, the Burns family thought it might just be allergies, until doctors at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn confirmed tests that showed the cancer.

The Burns' world suddenly collapsed. They immediately began to fear the worst for their first-born child. The family had just welcomed their second child, Maggie, into the world two months before Brendan's diagnosis and were now facing the very real threat of losing one of their children.

"The doctor said he's got a 60 percent chance of making it," said Brendan's father, Timothy Burns. "I thought, 'Are you serious? I'm watching my kid die right now?'"

After Brendan's diagnosis and some initial treatment at Advocate Christ Medical Center, the Burns were referred to Comer Children's Hospital, where doctors there used radiation, plus five rounds of chemotherapy, two stem cell transplants and six rounds of immunotherapy to fight his cancer, Megan said. Hospital stays sometimes lasted several weeks at a time.

Despite it all, Brendan showed remarkable resilience and kept his spirits high. And, he showed signs of recovery faster than even the doctors thought he would.

"He was unbelievable. He was the best patient," Timothy said. "It made it easy for us in the hospital because whenever we'd go to the hospital [for treatments] he'd say, 'Oh, we're going to see my friends."

Brendan's doctors used radiation, plus five rounds of chemotherapy, two stem cell transplants and six rounds of immunotherapy to fight his cancer, Megan said.

"It was a rough year," Timothy said.

But now things are starting to look up for the Burns family. They recently moved to Manhattan into their "forever home," as Timothy called it. The family had previously lived in Mount Greenwood on Chicago's South Side.

And the dozens of volunteers who showed up Friday to build the play set — all the way from Virginia, in the case of the Roc Solid Foundation volunteers — were more than happy to help make the day special for Brendan.

"We're building a play set for Brendan along with our partners at Amazon. We build play sets because we know that play defeats cancer; it doesn't cure cancer, but it defeats cancer because when a kiddo is playing on a play set, kiddo is not thinking about cancer," said Adam Legault with Roc Solid Foundation.

Karen Lorden, with Amazon in Matteson, said its team heard about Roc Solid and its plans to help the Burns family, and more than 25 Amazon employees from its Matteson, Monee, Joliet and Aurora locations showed up.

"We actually had to turn some people away because we got more volunteers than we could use," Lorden said.

The outdoor play set is in addition to some other, very welcome news for the Burns family: Brendan is officially in remission.

Brendan is now getting back to the things and people he loves the most, including his Grandma, Papa, Baby Sis and Spiderman, Timothy said. His hair is starting to grow back, and he just started preschool at St. Jospeh's Catholic School in Manhattan.

And on a sunny day Friday in Manhattan, as the volunteers from Roc Solid Foundation and Amazon were hard at work constructing Brendan's new play set, the Burns family couldn't be more grateful for how things had worked out for them.

"This is unbelievable. I'm thankful. I know Megan's thankful. And Brendan's going to love this," Timothy said. "From the bottom of our hearts, we're very thankful that Amazon and Roc Solid came through to help us out. This is a blessing."

Readers can follow along with Brendan and his family on the Facebook group Brave 4 Brendan.

Those interested in learning more about Roc Solid Foundation can do so by following this link.