Fifth Grader Fighting Leukemia Helps Spread Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

BONAIRE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness month and a fifth grader in Middle Georgia who is fighting a tough battle with leukemia is helping take the lead to raise awareness.

Joshua Thornton looks like any other fifth grader at Hilltop Elementary in his class, but his life changed on November 23, 2010 when a nurse gave his parents the bad news.

“She came out and said, ‘We believe he’s got cancer,'” his mother Sarah Thornton said. “I don’t remember anything else that was said after that. I know her lips were moving but I don’t have a clue to what was said.”

A year and a half later, Joshua isn’t letting leukemia stand in his way. He goes to school, works hard in all his classes and makes new friends. He’s an average 10-year-old who also lost his hair three times and goes to the hospital every month for chemotherapy treatment.

“He’s one of the strongest kids that you could possibly ever meet,” his father Danny Thornton said. “The disease he has has been very trying on him, but Josh does not complain. He gets up and faces each day with an attitude of ‘I’m going to make it.'”

The Thornton’s are one of several families in Middle Georgia battling childhood cancer. The director of Jay’s Hope Foundation says it is the number one killer of kids and can affect any child at any time.

“Some of the statistics are pretty shocking,” Cindy Gaskins with Jay’s Hope said. “On average 3 to 4 children are diagnosed a month in Middle Georgia alone and the pediatric oncology population has risen 347 percent, so it’s not as rare as people seem to think it is.”

For now, Joshua keeps his head up, spirits high and enjoys every moment as it it is his last. And that attitude is what makes this little boy a real man.

The Thornton’s says Joshua’s cancer has brought the family even closer together. The Jay’s Hope Foundation is holding a prayer service Thursday night to raise childhood cancer awareness and instill hope for these families during a difficult time.