Children are often underestimated until they prove their strength during times of hardship, and pediatric cancer is no exception. What started off as a seemingly harmless, though persistent, stomach virus quickly turned tragic for seven-year-old William Schultz and his family. After a great deal of vomiting and many tests, doctors found a mass in the posterior fossa, which they diagnosed as medulloblastoma. Over the next year, William underwent surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, fighting his hardest and continuously awing his parents with his strength. But sometimes, this just isn’t enough.

William relapsed in 2016, and this time, his medulloblastoma was 100 times worse. He started chemo again, and the reduction in his immune system caused him to develop a fever and pneumonia. Around Christmas, he suffered complications of chemotherapy and died. It was a long, hard-fought battle full of pain for William, but his family has chosen to remember him for his strength and positivity rather than the disease that took him away from them.

Photo: William Schultz