Boy In Heartrending Cancer Battle Photo Shares Incredible Bond With Sister After Getting The All-Clear

Oct 25, 2022 by apost team

In September 2018, a Texas mother of three inadvertently changed the public perception of pediatric cancer with a series of photos she posted on Facebook. Kaitlin Burge had snapped a candid photo of her daughter Aubrey comforting her little brother Beckett. However, this wasn't a casual case of soothing a sibling after a skinned knee. 

Beckett was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in April 2018. In mere months, the then-4-year-old went from a rambunctious child to a frail patient. Symptoms of ALL include fever, easy bruising and bleeding, joint pain, shortness of breath and loss of appetite. Throughout it all, his sister Aubrey, then 5, stayed at her brother's side. In a Facebook post, Burge touched on the effect Beckett's treatments had on their sibling bond. 

She wrote: "You always hear about the financial and medical struggles, but how often do you hear about the struggles families with other children face?" She attached two striking photos of her children, with Aubrey rubbing her little brother's back as he vomited. The photos went viral soon after as millions sympathized with Beckett’s plight back at the time. 

Burge continued: "My two kids, 15 months apart, went from playing in school and at home together to sitting in a cold hospital room together. My then 4-year-old watched her brother go from an ambulance to the ICU. She watched a dozen doctors throw a mask over his face, poke and prod him with needles, pump a dozen medications through his body, all while he laid there helplessly." 

While the challenges seemed almost insurmountable, the Burge family took it one day at a time. But their sacrifices and patience paid off as, in 2021, Beckett was declared cancer-free.

However, the road to a clean bill of health was not entirely smooth sailing. Early on in Beckett’s treatment, Burge explained how she was keen to include her daughter in the journey, unwilling perhaps to hide the young girl from the truth. She wrote, "Children need support and togetherness, and should not be kept at a distance from the person who is ill." In the case of Beckett, Aubrey "spent a fair amount of time, by his side in the bathroom, while he got sick. She stuck by him. She supported him and she took care of him, regardless of the situation. To this day, they are closer. She always takes care of him." 

Burge leaned into the details and the nitty-gritty reality of what this meant for the siblings. She presented an unflinching portrait of the small support system the children had formed. Again without obscuring the truth, Burge wrote: "Vomiting between play sessions. Waking up to throw up. Standing by her brother's side and rubbing his back while he gets sick. Going from 30 lbs to 20 lbs. This is childhood cancer." 

Thanks to the hard work of both his medical team as well as the support from his sister, Beckett eventually beat his cancer. After two years of treatment, he received his last in August 2021. Burge was ecstatic. “Beckett, from my newly diagnosed warrior to my soldier. You BEAT cancer, baby. 3 1/2 years of chemo, every single day. Learning to re-walk 2x. Two-time hair loss champion. You did it,” the proud mom wrote on Facebook alongside pictures of her son looking happy and healthy and a video of him ringing the cancer-free bell.

Beckett and Aubrey remain the closest of siblings, Burge said, adding they play outdoors and cycle home from school together.

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The siblings have stayed close, maintaining their tight bond. In an interview with Today Parenting, Burge spoke on how inspiring Beckett and Aubrey are. She said: "They walk to and home from school together. Even though they each have their own rooms, they sleep together." In great admiration for their shared strength, she said, “Those two have an unbreakable bond."

Burge also shared Beckett’s reaction to his recovery, as she told the New York Post: “Beckett was shocked. His face lit up but then he said he didn’t want his (chemotherapy) port out because he knew it’d kept him alive," she said.

Burge regularly posts updates about Beckett’s journey, including wholesome pictures and videos of him with his sisters and enjoying life and school. In September 2021, she posted that Beckett contracted Covid-19 and had to delay the removal of his port. Luckily, he had no symptoms, Burge said. She also posted a video of him reading, where she wrote in the caption that she was told to delay his start at kindergarten for a year, to which she said no. That same month, Beckett and his family were honored by the Princeton mayor at an event recognizing September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. 

It’s clear that Burge is immensely proud of her son but also of Aubrey. In a caption of one of their pictures together, Burge wrote:

“I watched my only son go through so much and still smile. I watched my sweet Aubrey push through a difficult time in her life and become so independent. She saw her best friend/brother in a state no sibling should ever have to experience.”

To the New York Post, she added: “Aubrey had such a huge impact on helping him get through this. They developed a bond that only siblings have that I couldn’t even replace.”

What do you think of Beckett's incredible journey and special bond with his sister? What's a special memory you have of your siblings? Let us know — and be sure to pass this article on to friends, family and any proud older siblings!