BUFFALO, N.Y. — This year's Tree of Hope lighter is a 13-year-old from East Amherst who was diagnosed with Leukemia late last year.
Tyler Kruse loves baseball, the Bills, and playing video games.
Two days after Christmas last year, right as he was about to turn 13, Kruse found out he had acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL. His doctor says it's the most common type of cancer seen in children.
"You go from, you know, really thinking you're having a pretty normal life to suddenly being diagnosed with this disease that puts you in the hospital for a month getting chemotherapy, blood transfusions, and all the side effects that go with that," said Dr. Matthew Barth, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Pediatric Hematologist and Oncologist.
But Kruse took that devastating news, and used it as motivation to help others. He is raising money for Courage of Carly, to help Roswell fund cancer research and programs for children fighting cancer.
Kruse was part of the Sabres' "Hockey Fights Cancer" game broadcast in November. He was in the hospital last week when we were set to interview him, so we're sharing part of that broadcast with you.
"So I just wanted to think of a way to give back to Courage of Carly, to Roswell, to Oishei, and to also make a great experience for the kids in 12 South and at Roswell, so I thought of my experience in January when I first got diagnosed, and I thought what got me through those days and that was a Roku, so that's what I thought of," Tyler said.
Kruse is really into sports, including the Bandits, and talked about the special visit he got during a hospital stay.
"I was very excited, and when I was up there in January, Dane and Josh came to visit me because they knew my old coach. So they played air hockey with me. They gave me some of their equipment. It was really cool," Tyler said.
Kruse also loves playing baseball, and Dr. Barth says it's tough when teens aren't able to do the activities they enjoy. So Roswell has several programs available for teens and young adults to support them as they go through treatment and into remission, like Kruse.
"Eventually, we were able to get him into a good remission so that he, you know, we don't really see Leukemia in his body at that point, but with that intensive chemotherapy he has had a lot of significant side effects," Dr. Barth said.
And while he has been in the hospital, Dr. Barth says Kruse is transitioning into the maintenance phase where he should be able to start doing more of his favorite things again. Dr. Barth is looking forward to seeing Kruse light this year's Tree of Hope.
"I think it's great that he has this opportunity to hopefully feel good about himself, and feel good about his fight with his cancer, and be able to be the lighter for the tree this year," Dr. Barth said.