WYOMING, Mich. — Smiles can be hard to come by when you're battling a form of leukemia. But one young boy from West Michigan was filled with joy Friday, thanks to the help of Make-A-Wish.
Not many kids like hockey more than Keegan Williams.
“Every day, he gets off the bus and he wants to go skate,” says Keegan’s mother, Rae Ann Elliott.
At 7 years old, Keegan's been like that for more than half his life. He was only 3 the first time he laced up.
“He was out there with a snow suit on, you know, almost like a penguin trying to figure out, you know, how to walk on skates,” says Elliott.
Just three months later, that chance to figure it out was taken away. He came down with a fever and an ear infection, and antibiotics did not make much of a difference.
“So we took him down to Helen DeVos for fluids,” recalls Elliott, “and essentially the ER doc that walked in knew something was wrong. And we knew within three hours, four hours, that it was leukemia."
That diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia arrived in November 2018. It's been an uphill battle ever since.
“It's been a long road,” says Elliott. “And definitely, some days, weeks and months are harder than others."
Keegan had to cut off all activities for months, which meant he couldn't play hockey — but he never lost his love for the sport.
And now, he won't have to go far to play it.
Make-A-Wish brought the hockey to him.
“He will be out here until it's dark and we have to pull him in,” says Elliott.
And Griff from the Grand Rapids Griffins was there to make the day even sweeter.
“To have Griff here is… I think you all saw his reaction of ‘Griff!’, so, pretty awesome."
Rae Ann says Keegan is on the home stretch with his treatment, which is set to wrap up in April.
And if happiness really does help with the healing process, then this ice rink is just what the doctor ordered.
