Teen fighting cancer gets a trip to college football championship
Fourteen-year-old Burke Bowie has been fighting cancer longer than he’s been watching football.
Both have led him on trips of a lifetime.
After 10 years of battling neuroblastoma, a cancer that starts in immature nerve tissue, and another year fighting rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive childhood cancer of the soft tissues, Blake received confirmation Monday that he is officially in remission.
“We are ecstatic about that,” said Burke’s mom, Meghan Bowie.
And then on Friday, Burke took off on a different journey — to the College Football National Championship game Monday night in Miami.
Burke and his family left their Sandy Springs home Friday morning bound for the airport with all the fanfare of a high-profile football game — a limo, a flashing police convoy of two dozen SUVs, Falcons cheerleaders and mascot Freddie Falcon along with screaming fans that included neighbors, friends and donors who helped make the trip to Miami possible.
While Burke and his parents have known about the game tickets for months, the send-off was a surprise.
“It’s overwhelming,” said Burke, standing stunned in his doorway before the crowd. A faded sign stuck in the lawn beside him read: “We can cure childhood cancer.”
“I’m overwhelmed,” echoed Meghan later, answering questions from Atlanta TV reporters. “Overwhelmed with joy.”
“The strongest person I know”
Burke was age 3 when he was first diagnosed with tumors on his optic nerve, which threatened his vision. Emergency radiation saved the vision in one eye.
Years of chemotherapy, radiation, surgeries, and stem cell transplants filled his childhood.
He’s been in remission, and had scares. A couple years ago during a regular scan, doctors found a spot on his lung.
Burke asked his mom if he was going to die.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with,” Meghan said. “All I could say was: `We’re going to do everything we can to fight this.’”
Then last February, Burke got what looked like a cyst on his nose. It turned out to be a rare kind of cancer, rhabdomyosarcoma.
Doctors traced it back to the radiation he had when he was age 3, Meghan said. The Bowies knew there was a small chance that could happen.
“He’s just the strongest person I know,” Meghan said. “He never complains. He never says ‘why me.’ Nothing like that. It’s always: ‘OK, what next? We’re going to do chemo today?’
“He’s just very matter-of-fact.”
The treatment lasted all year, and has months to go.
`Just keep going’
The cancer battles have only served to make Burke stronger, his parents say. He has been a fighter his entire life.
And so his family became fighters too.
“You get the news, and it’s the worst thing you can ever hear,” dad Ryan Bowie said. “But then it’s full steam ahead and all engines go.”
Their moto is one that often applies to football: “Let’s go kick some butt.” The theme song on drives to the hospital is “Win” by rapper Jay Rock.
Burke has many interests, including a love of 3D printing, and he received a printer for Christmas.
He says he believes turtles have strength, and has a printed turtle to take to his treatments.
Before each chemo session, Burke rubs his turtle on the chemo and then on his head “to give it extra mojo,” he says.
And he fights cancer by living his life, he said. He fights by not thinking about it.
When asked for his advice for people who are facing terrible times, or threats that they can’t control, Burke said: “To not give up. Just keep going.”
“You don’t want to think of bad things that could happen,” Burke said. If you stay positive, he said, “Then you’ll keep succeeding, and do the things you want to do.”
A love of football
Football is not Burke’s only passion.
He plays video games on his own YouTube channel, followed by nearly 350,000 subscribers. But when it comes to sports, Burke says he enjoys the feeling of community and cheering with the crowd as much as the game itself.
Burke is quiet and restrained. But not on game day. He loves attending UGA games and yelling at the top of his lungs.
His parents say favorite cheers include “Go Dawgs!” at kickoff and “Woof! Woof! Woof!”
Burke’s family plays backyard sports all the time, and so does he. He plays golf at school. But his favorite is football.
“I just like how it’s played,” he says. “And the traditions.”
His advice for the Bulldogs next season?
“I just want them to win,” he said.
Burke used his 3D printer to make a giant Bulldog pendant and chain that he wears around his neck.
When Indiana plays Miami Monday night, Burke says he’ll probably be rooting for Carson Beck, the Hurricanes’ quarterback who moved there from UGA. Burke’s mom says he also loves an underdog.
The trip comes courtesy of Dream On 3, which organizes sports dreams for kids living with life-altering medical conditions. They worked with the College Football Playoff organization to offer the Bowie family VIP access to the championship game, from meeting the players to going on the field.
Home builder Lennar is helping fund the trip. Elite Feet Customs, a local maker of custom sports shoes, designed a pair just for Burke in playoff colors.
“It’s about showing Burke and his family that they are not alone — that an entire city is cheering him on,” Jodi Sonenshine, Dream On 3’s director of community engagement, said in a written announcement.
Rich Clark, executive director of the College Football Playoff, called it an honor to host the Bowies at the big game.
“He has shown what true strength and character really mean, and he epitomizes what being a champion is all about,” Clark said of Burke. “I’m inspired by this young man, and it is a privilege for the CFP to be part of his journey.”
About the Author
Ariel Hart is a reporter on health care issues. She works on the AJC’s health team and has reported on subjects including the Voting Rights Act and transportation.
