Leading With Laughter 

Hunter was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, in June 2023. Two months later, more crushing news arrived: His leg could not be saved. It would be amputated above the knee. 

The loss of a limb is a devastating circumstance to consider, at any age, for any reason. And Hunter was 10 years old, in a fight for his life.    

How It Began 

When Hunter said his knee hurt, his parents, Kristen and Phillip, figured it was growing pains, but took him for an X-ray. He was referred for an MRI and then sent to the local children’s hospital, where a bone biopsy ultimately found the cause of his pain.  

Kristen still struggles with that period of time before the family knew Hunter had cancer. “I have an incredible amount of guilt over the number of times that we told him, ‘Come on, buddy, you got to man up,’” she said. “We were still trying to get him to get up and walk.”  

Hunter was referred to St. Jude and arrived in tremendous pain. Kristen was immediately struck by, and grateful for, the focus on Hunter’s total well-being. “The staff here at St. Jude gave him the most superb care,” she said. “His pain level was a top priority to them.”  

Still, the entire family was still grappling with the diagnosis, and with doubt. Pediatric osteosarcoma treatments have improved, but it remains a very challenging disease. If the cancer has not spread to other areas of the body, the long-term survival rate is 70% to 75%. If it has spread to the lungs or other bones at diagnosis, the long-term survival rate is much lower.   

‘No Quit In Him’   

There’s a famous self-help book that offers the advice: "Happiness, like unhappiness, is a proactive choice.” Hunter never heard of this book. But on his own, he came to the same conclusion. He accepted what he could not control and focused on what he could: his attitude in the midst of it.   

By example, Hunter led his entire family in meeting adversity with cheer. He did it, said his mom, by “finding every chance to laugh and giggle and tell jokes and not focus on every bad thing that was happening, but to take every opportunity to be happy.”    

The night before the amputation, Hunter and his family gave his right leg a sort of going-away party. He and his little sister used markers to pen messages and draw tattoos all over it, including a smushed bug on the sole. With the attention of a pedicurist, she colored each of his actual toes a different hue. It was a goofy, loving, final send-off, before the hard work of recovery began.  

When faced with the amputation of his leg, Hunter began collecting T-shirts, and has amassed dozens of them, all along a common theme. They say things like Some Assembly Required, or I’m Really A Pirate.  

The collection reflects not just the irrevocable change to his life, but also how he decided to face it: In short, head on.  

Still, relearning to walk was difficult. It was frustrating and overwhelming at times, but Hunter somehow got through it. He started first with a walker, then progressed to two crutches and then to one.  Now, Hunter is walking on his prosthesis unassisted.   

“Hunter has no quit in him,” said Phillip, his dad. “He's dedicated one hundred percent when he's in the middle of trying to do something.”     

The flipside is that he sometimes has to be encouraged to take it easy. “If you let him,” said his mom, Kristen, “he will work himself to the bone.”    

Today, Hunter is back at home after completing therapy, and he returns to St. Jude for follow-up appointments. One literal step at a time, he has come so far. Despite the light-hearted T-shirts, it hasn’t been easy — not for him nor for those alongside him.   

“The emotions that I've had through this process have been every part of a roller coaster from the deepest depths of terrified to so proud of him that I could bust,” said Kristen. “I can't imagine how people do this without St. Jude. Taking care of a kid with cancer is a full-time job. Some days are really hard. But you have to make it through those hard days and then choose to continue to be happy. It's a choice that you make.    

“And he makes it every day.”