The East Orlando Sun

Wesley Rivera was 12 when he started getting sick. He was pale, got infections, had bruises and fatigue, but the doctor his family took him to didn’t recognize how serious it was. His mother had a gut feeling — something wasn’t right. She took him to a new doctor who took one look at Rivera and sent him to the emergency room.

The now Timber Creek High School senior had leukemia, and he needed a bone marrow transplant to survive.

“It really was a lot to take in … I kind of went in autopilot,” Rivera, 18, said.

He spent months in the hospital, underwent chemotherapy and had a life-saving bone marrow transplant from the donation of his sister, who was a perfect match. At 12, the process was tough to comprehend, but knowing his life was at risk was something he fully understood. He knew he could die.

“I knew it was real, that the possibility was real, and I felt the pain of the leukemia,” Rivera said.

But with the strength from his family, who was determined to get through this, that possibility would just never become a reality. His parents, sister and brother never left his side, and he was never alone.

“There was no other alternative, there was no giving in to any doubt that I wouldn’t come out of there alive and that we wouldn’t be fine in the end,” he said. “And knowing that really helped me get through it.”

He’ll been cancer-free for six years on Feb. 14, which makes him officially cured. He celebrates his “second birthday” — March 29, the day of his bone marrow transplant — each year with a family dinner. His favorite is steak or his dad’s special garlic chicken, and no one misses the night. It’s a treasure to celebrate simple, regular moments like a family dinner, his mom said.

“It’s like a rebirth,” said his mom Mrs. Rivera.

And though he lives a busy life as a high school senior, Wing Commander in JROTC—the highest rank there is in the organization—dedicated student and first TCHS graduate to ever be accepted to Yale University, he hasn’t forgotten how cancer has shaped him as a person.

“It has made me who I am today,” Rivera said. “I just was forced to grow up. A lot of kids take a lot of things for granted, waking up, having your loved ones and everything, and through this I got to realize how quickly that can be taken away from you.”

His friends see that, too.

“He realizes that life is short and he appreciates things more and respects things more,” said Monai Williams, a friend of 10 years.

Williams has even been inspired to become a pediatric oncologist after supporting Rivera through his fight against cancer.

Cancer changed Rivera’s values and work ethic, he said. Rivera volunteers at three organizations related to cancer: Florida’s Blood Centers, Kids Beating Cancer and The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He’s brought blood drives to TCHS with the help from his JROTC cadets. His instructor, Maj. Brian Humphrey, said he’s a leader people want to listen to.

“He’s one of those young men that I don’t know what he has in his system — that drive, that determination, that forthrightness to want to be the best,” Humphrey said.

Rivera also shares his story with anyone who will listen and inspires others to help. Michael Pratt, interim CEO for Florida’s Blood Centers, said Rivera’s story always gives that extra nudge when people are deciding to donate blood.

“Wesley has the ability to reach in and grab you by the heart and squeeze it,” Pratt said.

Rivera serves as a compelling story of survival for families battling cancer with their children, said Margaret Guedes, CEO, president and founder of the charity Kids Beating Cancer.

“He’s an amazing young man who’s overcome incredible obstacles and he’s done it with grace and courage,” she said. “It gives the families optimism and hope.”

But Rivera sees this as “self service.” He’ll never stop giving some of his life to the organizations he said saved his. And he’ll always be reminded of that each year, for the rest of his life, when he goes to get his cancer-free check up. Those days never worry him, like you might think, they only tell him that he’s healthy. They make him feel good, and he’s quite matter of fact about it.

“I’m not afraid,” he said.