Sawyer Keys, who was recently diagnosed with an extremely rare form of liver cancer, got an experience of a lifetime when he got to throw out a football prior to the Bay Area Panthers’ June 7 game against the Tulsa Oilers.
The 9-year-old Gilroy resident who will be in fourth grade at Gilroy Prep School in the fall, plays baseball and loves Minecraft, was thrilled throughout the entire evening, his mother Lydia Keys said.
“He was so excited he got chosen to be on the field,” she said. “He stood at midfield and threw the ball to Claw, the Panthers mascot.”
Living busy lives with their two active boys, Sawyer and his 7-year-old brother Logan, the family was recovering from the flu but Sawyer continued to complain of stomach pain. His pediatrician ordered a scan to rule out appendicitis and Lydia and his father, Nathan, were shocked to learn Sawyer was suffering from an enormous growth on his liver.
A cluster of multiple tumors, measuring almost six inches long, had grown on Sawyer’s liver and he needed urgent attention.
He was immediately taken to Stanford’s Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital, where doctors biopsied multiple sites where they learned his tumors, hepatocellular neoplasms (Stage 3), are an extremely rare type of liver cancer in a 9-year-old boy; liver cancer is only 1% of all pediatric cancers.
Sawyer was fast-tracked and received consultation with a pediatric liver cancer expert from UCSF, who made it clear that Sawyer required immediate specialized chemotherapy, multiple surgeries—including a potential liver transplant—and other novel interventions during the next year in an attempt to save his life.
The April 21 night that he was admitted to Stanford, nurses learned the next day was his birthday, so at midnight they sang “Happy Birthday” to him and gave him a Hero Bear with a cape.
“In that situation those nurses made it great for him,” Lydia said.
Someone else who put a smile on his face was Panthers offensive lineman No. 53 Sidney Walker, who without being asked called the family over after the game and carried Sawyer around, introducing the boy to all the players.
“That was something that really made the experience special,” Lydia said.
Now, Sawyer is finishing his second block of chemotherapy while he and the family navigate an unsure future.
“It’s been overwhelming but this kid has one hell of a spirit,” Lydia said.
In the meantime, a GoFundMe page has been established to help the family. They will need to travel and stay for long treatments. They will have medical bills their insurance plans won’t cover, and they will need to keep the home fires burning so that when Sawyer is well again, he can return to his life as a carefree young boy with his best friend and little brother, Logan.
Nathan and Lydia have committed to donating any remaining funds they don’t utilize in the direct support of Sawyer and their family to a nonprofit supporting other families facing pediatric liver cancer.
To donate, visit gofundme.com/f/help-sawyer-fight-rare-liver-cancer.
