Buffalo Grove boy with leukemia looking for heroic donor
Draped in his Superman cape, 4-year-old Bennett Vulykh of Buffalo Grove loves to take on the role of his favorite superhero. Now, he's looking for a hero of his own.
Bennett was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in May 2013, and after four rounds of chemotherapy and several blood and platelet transfusions, he was healthy again. Then around Labor Day, it was discovered the disease came back.
Finding a matching bone marrow donor could be the chance for a cure for Bennett and thousands of others with blood cancer.
Family, friends and officials with the Northbrook Fire Department hosted a bone marrow registry drive and blood drive Sunday at the department's headquarters in an effort to support Bennett and others like him. All that's needed to find a potential bone marrow match is to swab the inside of one's mouth; those who could be a match are contacted by the National Marrow Donor Program to see if they'd be willing to donate marrow or blood stem cells.
"He knows he's sick and he knows he has to spend some time in the hospital, and then once he's done being sick, we're going to do all the other things he loves to do," said Bennett's mother, Enna Vulykh.
He's gotten used to going back and forth from the hospital for treatment. Since his relapse in September, he's had two more rounds of chemotherapy, blood and platelet transfusions, and intravenous antibiotics. He'll soon undergo radiation.
His family hopes he'll be able to return to school next year, but until then they try to make life as normal as possible. He enjoys things most 4-year-olds would, like playing with cars and trains, watching movies and swimming.
"He has more energy than I do," said Elliott Vistman, Bennett's uncle.
"You wouldn't even know he's sick," added Valerie Niven, a family friend.
Bennett has been wearing the Superman cape since Halloween - a gift from grandmother Emiliya Vistman, who thought it would help cheer him up. He wore it during his latest visit to Lurie's Children's Hospital in Chicago, where he was hopping around the hallways and in the playrooms, Enna Vulykh said.
"He's just a happy kid," she said. "He's going to go through his motions. He understands the importance of going to the hospital. You just go with it. Every day is just a different day. You live every day by the moment."