NORTH ATTLEBORO — A local teenager is battling cancer for a second time and a GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help him and his family.
Leo Larocque, 14, is again fighting Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare bone cancer.
In 2018, just before his ninth birthday, Leo was diagnosed with the cancer and underwent 14 rounds of high-dose chemotherapy. His lower left leg had to be amputated.
“He never lost his optimism, hope, or determination,” his aunt Tayla Ripley said.
A big football fan, “Leo kept on playing the sport he loved most,” Ripley said. “He put his heart and soul into each practice and every game.”
Leo remained cancer free for 4 1/2 years and his aunt says he “was doing incredible,” finishing up his last year of junior football last October. He is a straight A high honors student in eighth grade, she noted.
Leo’s routine post-cancer scans were clear in late November.
“Our whole family was thrilled,” Ripley said. “Then, only three weeks later, my sister Heather noticed a slight lump in Leo’s right shoulder as he was changing into a shirt.”
Family members were fearful and contacted Leo’s medical team at MassGeneral in Boston.
After an MRI and biopsy, the family learned the devastating news Jan. 9 that the cancer had returned.
“He must now begin his second battle with this evil, relentless beast,” Ripley said. “Going through this once before, I have seen firsthand the mental, emotional, and financial toll it took on my sister’s family.
“It changed their lives completely, and the effects of the traumatic journey they endured were lasting. No child should have to go through this hell, let alone our sweet, smart, kindhearted, amazing Leo, and now he must go through it again.”
Leo is now undergoing chemo again.
He had become very ill from the treatment but his spirits and those of his family were lifted when he was able to attend his junior football team banquet last Saturday night.
“He wanted nothing more than to attend his last junior football banquet,” his mother, Heather Ripley, said.
“It was like an immediate transformation,” Ripley said after her son greeted teammates. “After getting inside the banquet hall and sitting down, Leo was talking and even smiling. We hadn’t seen that from him in a week.”
Leo hadn’t eaten for five days but did so at the banquet where he also was able to get up and accept gifts from his coaches as his teammates did, Ripley added.
“This was like an answered prayer,” Ripley said, noting the family, including his father Leo, stayed two hours at the banquet.
“Surrounded by his friends/teammates, his coaches, & his amazing community, Leo got the medicine of laughter, joy, & positivity, which was exactly what he needed,” Ripley said in an update posted on the GoFundMe page.
To date, the GoFundMe campaign has raised $12,275 from 163 donors. The goal is $50,000.
“We ask for you to please keep Leo, his family, and his difficult journey ahead in your thoughts, hearts, and prayers,” Tayla Ripley said on the GoFundMe page. “If you are able to make even a small donation to help Leo and his family during this tough time, it would be so greatly appreciated, and helps them tremendously.”
