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Visiting 6-year-old in the Hospital


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As of today, I have been in the 501st Legion for exactly one year. And two days ago, I had one of the best experiences of my life.

 

First of all, this was a personal visit for Brodie Pursch. He is 6 now, but in 2015, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He went through eight rounds of chemotherapy to get rid of it, and immediately before our arrival, he had undergone an MRI to determine if his chemo treatment was ready to end. We were invited to come and cheer him on/help him celebrate.

 

I (TK-69004) was joined by Karl Gehring (ST-1292) and Andrew Melton (TI-23274) on this little adventure.

 

I was personally pretty exhausted because I had just trooped nonstop at Fan Expo Dallas the three days before, but I was excited to do another hospital troop after so long. Karl is a longtime 501st member, and in fact was recognized for his intense extra charity work last year on a Legion level. This was Andrew's very first hospital visit; he has only been in the Legion since about Thanksgiving. (That's the last weekend in November for you non-Americans.)

 

We arrived at MD Anderson in Downtown Houston, Texas, early morning on April 3. We were given a private office to change into, made quick work of getting ready, and proceeded down the hall to meet with Brodie. He was still in his big chair after going through something medical-related; I, of course, cannot see a THING in my helmet, so I'm not sure exactly what.

 

I was the designated speaker, so after a round of high-fives, I talked with Brodie for a few minutes about Star Wars. He said his favorite film is the original one, and his favorite character is Luke Skywalker. He showed us a toy of Rey on her speeder from The Force Awakens, and had to convince us that the REAL Rey isn't that tiny. During the chat, he asked where we were from. I told him we live on the Death Star, and to not listen to that Rebel propaganda that it's been blown up. He genuinely believed that we were REALLY from Star Wars, and not just people in a costume. That, alone, made my joining of the Legion 100% worth it.

 

Our hospital contact, Lauren, helped Brodie lead us out of the hospital room and into the waiting room a little further down the hall. For the next 10 minutes or so, we interacted with everyone there, taking lots of pictures, asking if they had seen any droids, and bringing smiles to everyone's faces. After all was said and done, we said goodbye and good luck to Brodie and made our way back to the changing room. We had a quick interview with the local news, quickly changed out, and exited the hospital without anyone seeing us. All in all, it was a very good day to be a 501st member.

 

Local News video:

 

 

ABC also posted a news video, Facebook-feed style. https://www.facebook.com/GoodMorningAmerica/videos/10154501159502061/

 

Yahoo! News article on the subject: https://gma.yahoo.com/boy-brain-tumor-gets-star-wars-surprise-185016060--abc-news-wellness.html?cid=social_fb_gma

 

The hospital's Facebook post, containing a summery and some pictures. https://www.facebook.com/kidsandcancer/posts/1411718428851393

Edited by SkulShurtugalTCG
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This is wonderful  :)

 

My daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2009, so all of this is very familiar to me. She's now a beautiful, positive soon-to-be 17 year old. People say they're brave kids. The reality, however, is that they simply have no choice in what fate has dealt them. They just deal with it.

 

Proud to be associated with you troopers, well done  :salute:

 

I wish young Brodie and his family all the very best.  :duim:

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