KENTWOOD, MI -- It was all smiles and giggles from the employees and bystanders at the Kentwood Plaza Burlington Wednesday as they watched 5-year-old Zander Wiles roam the toy aisles with his mom, Brooke Wiles.
Zander was given $150 to shop at Burlington to celebrate the end of his nearly lifelong battle with leukemia.
He picked out one toy for himself and one for his sister, and the rest for kids at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.
“We received a lot of support, so we want to pay it forward to the kids that are fighting in the hospital right now,” Brooke Wiles said.
At just 8 months old, Zander was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He spent the following five months in the hospital, and received chemotherapy for the next two years.
“My husband and I were kind of shocked at the whole diagnosis,” Wiles said. “We really banded together and we got through it.”
Wiles and her husband have an older daughter, Savannah, 6, who was three years old when Zander was diagnosed and admitted to the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.
“We just split our time between the hospital and at home with her, so we were a little bit of a disjointed family at that point in time, but we got through it, made the most of it.” Wiles said, her voice wavering before she laughed. “I kind of joked around that my husband and Zander had a penthouse in the city.”
The Wiles family is from Muskegon. Zander recently started pre-kindergarten at North Muskegon Elementary School.
“He’s a happy kid,” Wiles said. “He knows that he had leukemia, but we don’t really talk about it in terms of it was hard or anything like that, it’s just part of what he went through as a kid.”
While Zander wasn’t delayed in starting school on time, he did have some difficulties after receiving chemotherapy treatments.
“Because he was so young, when he was done with his chemotherapy he did have some developmental delays,” Wiles said. “He didn’t walk or talk much until 18 months. His gait was wobbly. I think it was due to neuropathy from chemo."
Zander got help from Early On Michigan, which offers early intervention services for infants and toddlers up to 3 years old with developmental delays and disabilities.
“He didn’t know the difference,” Wiles said. “But at the time it was very scary for us not knowing how it would turn out.”
To celebrate Zander’s recovery, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Burlington Stores surprised Zander with a shopping spree.
Feeling shy from all the cameras and people watching him, Zander quietly roamed the aisles with his mom picking out toys.
Zander is now in remission, and if he doesn’t relapse by June 2020 he will officially be “cured” of the cancer.
“It feels amazing,” Wiles said. “We’re very, very blessed.”