TAMPA, Fla. – Doctors told 16-year-old Hunter Brady in November that his shortness of breath and exhaustion were probably signs of the flu, according to WFTS.
It wasn’t until a Brady’s right lung collapsed a few weeks later and he was rushed to the emergency room that he found out he had cancer.
“I just kept sweating a lot, like night sweats,” Brady said. “As it carried on I felt worse.”
In January, tests revealed that Brady had stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, his mother told the Florida station.
The 16-year-old has already undergone a blood transfusion, bone marrow biopsy and several operations to remove fluid building up around his lungs and heart. Rounds of chemotherapy have also taken his hair, but Brady refuses to let negative thoughts creep in.
“I’m gonna beat it,” Brady told WFTS. “I ain’t giving up.”
His friends and family are rooting for him, with dozens shaving their own heads in solidarity.
Brady has stayed strong, even when bullies attacked him on social media, his mother said, with one person commenting on Instagram “You deserve cancer.” Brady said he told the stranger that he didn’t care, adding that if the bully ever learns what it feels like “he’ll realize and then he’ll feel bad.”
The Florida teen is crediting God with giving him the strength to fight the deadly disease, and plans to be a pastor once he gets better.
The family has started a fundraiser to help pay for medical costs.
