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northbrooktower.com life & Arts
the northbrook tower | January 17, 2019 | 21
Northbrook residents fight cancer with friendship
Raise 12K for
cancer patients
Brittany Kapa
Freelance Reporter
Johnny Sorial was in
fourth grade when he was
diagnosed with leukemia.
Emma Bergeron was only
4 years old.
Johnny and Emma, both
Northbrook residents,
were diagnosed with acute
lymphoblastic leukemia,
also known as ALL, and
have forged a special bond
because of the disease.
ALL is the most common
type of childhood
cancer, according to St.
Baldricks’ website, and is
a cancer of the blood and
bone marrow. The disease
turns too many stem cells
into immature white blood
cells, which don’t mature
into normal blood cells
that typically fight infection.
The indicators of the
disease are fairly recognizable,
and both Johnny and
Emma had pain in their
feet and an unwillingness
to put pressure on their
legs. Johnny remembers
his legs hurt so bad he
couldn’t go up steps or get
into a car.
Emma was on her way
to play for her older sister
when she was 4, and when
she wouldn’t put any pressure
on her feet her mother,
Renee Bergeron knew
something was wrong. It
was only then that doctors
did a blood test to confirm
their suspicions.
“She had leukemic cells
in upwards of 200,000 in
her body,” Renee Bergeron
said. “It was insanely high.
They had said that in an
adult with a cold, (leukemic
cells) might run 10 to
15 thousand.”
The staff at Ann & Robert
H. Lurie Children’s
Hospital of Chicago converted
the number for Renee,
and the gravity of the
situation set in – Emma’s
body was 98 percent leukemic
cells at the time.
“They said they didn’t
know how she was walking
or awake,” she said.
“They could not believe
her status.”
Emma started her treatment
in December 2011,
and by April 2014 she
was cancer free. Now 11,
Emma still has to go for
yearly checkups, but is
considered a cancer survivor
after being in remission
for five years.
When Johnny was diagnosed
in September of
2016, it was Emma who
made him realize he had
cancer.
Johnny spent a week in
the hospital after his diagnosis,
but it still didn’t register
for him until Emma
broke the news.
“She was the one who
actually told me,” Johnny
said. “They tried to tell
me in the hospital, but
my counts were so low I
couldn’t listen to anything.
I was so out of everything.”
Emma has been there for
Johnny over the last few
years, and that has made
all the difference for him.
“I know I’m going to get
through it,” Johnny said. “I
have my friends supporting
me, especially Emma.”
Emma was happy to be
that friend.
“I knew that it was hard
to go through, especially
when you’re older,” she
said. “You don’t quite
know what’s happening.
Emma Bergeron (left) and Johnny Sorial (right) raised
$12,000 for cancer patients, which was equally donated
to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
and Advocate Children’s Hospital. The Northbrook
residents have both battled acute lymphoblastic
leukemia, supporting each other during their
treatments. Photo Submitted
It just helps to have someone.”
Johnny struggled with
his treatment, and developed
a severe anxiety as a
result.
“I remember so vividly
how I would walk into the
room – I would always
need a bed for my spinals,
but only for my spinals –
and when I saw the bed I
would immediately start
tearing up because the
sight of the bed for me
was such as scary sight for
me,” he said.
Johnny still gets chemotherapy
via port in his
spine every two months,
but is expected to be done
with treatment come this
November.
“The entire clinic knew
when Johnny was getting
his port accessed,” Susan
Sorial, Johnny’s mother,
said. “But over time, I
think that he has gotten
more comfortable with it.
I think all of the support
between the hospitals, the
community and our family
– he knows he’s going to
be OK.”
That support is what
sparked Emma’s idea to
hold a lemonade stand last
September. With an initial
goal of $200, Emma
and Johnny put up posters
around Northbrook at
Westmoor School, Starbucks
and the Metra train
station in town. With the
help of a Bergeron family
friend, Tim Mateja, the
stand raised $12,000. The
proceeds were donated to
Ann & Robert H. Lurie
Children’s Hospital of Chicago
and Advocate Children’s
Hospital in equal
amounts as a gesture of
thanks from the two young
Northbrook residents.
For Johnny, the lemonade
stand was a way to
give back and say, thank
you to all of the doctors,
nurses, researchers and the
hospitals for taking such
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good care of him over the
last few years — and curing
Emma’s leukemia.
“I thought it was such
a great idea because most
people, when they get
something so fortunate,
they’re too caught up in
other things to really think
about what (the doctors
and nurses are) doing for
you, and all the research
that they’ve done for
[ALL],” Johnny said.
Emma already has plans
in mind for another event
this year.
“We’re trying to do a
lemonade stand every year,
but improve it every time,”
Emma said. “We were all
thinking a DJ, popcorn and
maybe some ice cream or
something. It’s going to be
a block party instead.”
Johnny is looking forward
to the day when he
can say he is cancer free,
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