Bergen Kid's Indomitable Spirit Remains Through Cancer Recurrence

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Rowan Blehl has continued to show a fighting spirit throughout an all-out medical battle with cancer over the past two years, his father Cort said. Now the 11-year-old Bergen County resident, as he recovers from a mass removal and prepares to receive several more rounds of chemotherapy, is still unflappable and ready to crack jokes.

On Feb. 13, ER doctors found that Rowan Blehl's cancer — nearly two years after he was first diagnosed — had returned, or, in fact, never left, and the young Westwood boy underwent emergency surgery to remove all of one, and part of another, spinal tumor. He will now need to complete treatment to kill any lingering cancer cells — "which will be a long and rough road for everyone involved," his father Cort Blehl said.

"(Rowan) rebounded miraculously after the (Feb. 13) surgery," Cort Blehl said. "After a few days, he was zooming along with his walker. And now he doesn't use the walker anymore, and his gait is mostly normal, which we (Rowan's parents) are extremely happy for."

Blehl asked his Facebook friends to keep Rowan in their prayers, and to send positive thoughts his way. But the Bergen County community has combined those thoughts with action, and has rallied around the 11-year-old to support him on his cancer journey.

Most notably, a colleague of Cort Blehl's, Sean Cullen —who works with him at the Paramus Public Works Department and himself survived cancer a decade ago — organized a dinner fundraiser last week that more than 160 people attended. He told Patch that Rowan's story hits home for him, not only because he was once in the boy's shoes, but because he also now has two sons of his own around Rowan's age.

"I found out about Rowan and quickly got everything into play for a fundraiser," Cullen said. "I had non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2012, and people were kind enough to donate to me in my time of need. So, that gave me the incentive to help Rowan."

Cullen also sympathized with the Blehl family, because he knows how challenging the stress of such a diagnosis can be for loved ones. Cullen's wife at the time, like Cort's now, stayed at home with the kids. Cullen's coworkers donated sick leave and vacation time to him while he was out of work.

Blehl said: "My wife is the one who takes Rowan to all of his appointments, and coordinates everything with him and with our eight-year-old daughter. She has to juggle all of that, while I am still working."

Blehl's wife Heather set up a Meal Train as the family deals with the cancer recurrence, and nearly $800 has been raised as of Friday.

"We are super grateful to Sean and everyone else in town who has helped us out," Cort Blehl said. "It has been amazing to see the love and support of the community."

Faced with cancer twice now, Rowan's spirits are still high as he prepares for even more aggressive treatment than the first time he was diagnosed, though the boy — his dad contends — is a natural-born fighter, shown perhaps most evidently in his sports career.

Rowan, prior to his first mass removal surgery in 2021, had qualified for the National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships in throwing events, and actually, before yet another setback earlier this year, had qualified for the regional meet again last year.

"He'll likely try to go out for sports again, but it will be tough, because he can't bend or twist his spine for three months (following the February surgery)," Cort Blehl said. "But I'm sure we can give it a shot, as long as he's able and enjoys it. That's all we (as parents) care about."

He concluded his Facebook prayer request with #ROWANSTRONG.