- Weston Brown is an 8-year-old from Padre Island who beat childhood cancer when he was 6 years old.
- He battled a rare kind of cancer called type 4 sacrococcygeal teratoma.
- The Triumph over Kid Cancer Foundation and the D.K. Foundation are partnering to start an event called Sunset Bells, to raise awareness and money for pediatric cancer.
- Weston Brown is the first childhood cancer survivor to get honored and ring the first 'Sunset Bell' on Mon. Sept 16th at sunset.
Weston Brown was a typical toddler, until just after his third birthday when his family received the news that he was diagnosed with type 4 sacrococcygeal teratoma. Weston is now 8-years-old and cancer free.
He's being honored for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month by The Triumph over Kid Cancer Foundation through ringing the first of 365 daily 'Sunset Bells' at Snoopy's on Sunset Island.
“Weston was diagnosed at age three. He had type 4 sacrococcygeal teratoma. It's a tumor that grew off his spine, but on the inside. So, it was very hard to diagnose at first,” Weston's mother Ashley Brown said. “He went through chemo through 2020 with COVID and he never got to ring a bell. So, for him to ring this bell means more than just the inaugural thing. It’s very special to him. I'm so glad that he was included and was invited to be the first one, because it means a lot to us and our family."
'Sunset Bells' will be held on the Snoopy's Pier at Sunset Island on Padre Island. It will benefit the Triumph Over Kid Cancer Foundation (TOKC), which was started in the Coastal Bend in 2010 by the Ragan family, who lost their beloved son and brother, James Ragan, who battled pediatric cancer.
“What a great opportunity for us. We're just honored and thrilled to partner with the D.K. Foundation, Sunset Island is right across the bridge to North Padre Island," TOKC board member Catherine Hilliard said. "They’ve partnered with us to do what we’re calling Sunset Bells. So for 365 days, every single day, at sunset, they’re going to ring these bells, in awareness of pediatric cancer and in honor of TOKC”
Along with the nightly Sunset Bells, on the second Thursday of every month customers of Sunset Island businesses such as Snoopy's and Scoopy's, have the opportunity to round up their bill to benefit TOKC. Weston Brown will ring the first Sunset Bell on Monday, Sept. 16 at sunset around 7:30 p.m. at the pier.
The Brown family said it was not easy to get to where they are today in Weston's journey and three-year-long battle with type 4 sacrococcygeal teratoma.
“We had to do so much, and go through so much with different doctors, and surgeons, and all of this that it was a huge relief knowing that he was cancer free and so we pray everyday that he stays that way and we’re thankful for it," Ashley Brown said.
As well as raising funds, Triumph Over Kid Cancer Foundation emphasizes the importance of spreading awareness of pediatric cancer.
“There are some tremendous organizations out there, like the American Cancer Society and others, who bring awareness to adult cancers, and breast cancers, and colon cancers, and all of the things that adults suffer from. But, I don't think there's a lot of awareness, or I don't think there's enough awareness about pediatric cancer specifically," Hilliard said.
The 'Sunset Bells' will ring every day for the next year, starting with the first ring by Weston Brown on Mon. Sept. 16 at sunset. Monday night's event will start at 6 p.m. with a sunset happy hour, and conclude at 8 p.m. after the ringing of the bell by Weston.
When KRIS 6 News reporter Erin Holly asked Weston what he would tell another child battling cancer like he did, he said “I had the same thing and I beat it, and I bet you can too."
To learn more about the Triumph Over Kid Cancer Foundation and other childhood cancer awareness events, click here.
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