Boy Who Beat Cancer Donates Toys to Hospital

It was a phone call that changed their lives.

“Those are words you never want to hear. 'Your child has cancer,'” said Mark Bates

Mark and Patrice Bates were told last year that their 5-year-old son Westyn had cancer.

Westyn had two surgeries and 16 rounds of Chemotherapy at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. He was in the hospital for almost nine months. Through it all, there was one way to make him smile: Taking him to see the trains at the hospital.

“It is a great distraction for children, to get their mind off what they are going through,” said Mark Bates.

There are some toys around the tracks, but Westyn felt something was missing, Ninja Turtles, which he loves.

“He said he wanted to get his Ninja Turtles and bring them down here and donate them to the train set for other kids to see while they were staying in the hospital,” Patrice said.

Westyn really wanted to help the other kids at the hospital, so he decided to donate knight figurines he received, too. He became very interested in knights after knights from Medieval Times visited him.

“They said, 'Fight hard,'” said Westyn.

Westyn has now been free of cancer for three months, but he still comes to see the trains when he goes to Children’s Medical Center for checkups. His parents say that Westyn has a big heart, and a lot of love to give.

“Even when he was in the hospital, he asked, 'Why is that little boy crying? What is going on over there?'" Patrice said. "He was always concerned about the other kids in the hospital.”

Westyn, one of 12 children, was in the hospital during Christmas last year. This year, he will be home.

“It is a happy ending to a very difficult story,” Mark Bates said.

Children’s Medical Center does not usually accept toy donations because everything must be sterilized. In this case, they made an exception.