Powell County boy prepares for life after chemo

POWELL COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - Like many 12-year-olds, Wyatt McClur enjoys being out and about.

“I like to go ride my bike and my four-wheeler,” he said. “I like to play sports. And I like to hang out with my dog.”

But after a tough diagnosis, he had to take a break from doing the things he loved most.

“Two years and five months ago, we went for a well child visit,” his mother Shawna Butler tells WKYT. “He had acute Lymphoblastic lymphoma, so it was in the bloodstream. It’s a liquid cancer.”

For the last two and a half years, he’s been undergoing treatment at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

“The news that I got the day that they told me I had cancer was something a mother never wants to hear, but with his strength, and the strength of God, our friends, family, and community,” she said. “Take it one day at a time. Sometimes it’s one hour at a time, but that’s how you get through it.”

Between appointments, surgeries and chemotherapy, it can sometimes be hard to see the bright light ahead.

In this case, Wyatt brings the light and shares it with everyone he meets and takes it with him, wherever he goes.

In videos provided by his family, you can see Wyatt dancing in his hospital room, bringing laughter to those around him.

Following his port removal surgery, they proudly say his cancer is not a death sentence.

The doctors, nurses and care team along the way, became more like friends and family.

While Wyatt cracks jokes and prepares to try out of the baseball team, he’s most looking forward to the end of the month. When he gets to ring the bell, signifying the battle he’s finally won.

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