David Boggs, an eighth-grader who went through his last rounds of chemotherapy in November, was greeted with a surprise celebration at Daybreak Middle School on Wednesday, Jan. 26 when one of his long sought after wishes was granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Boggs was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer in February of 2021, and underwent rotationplasty in his left knee to prevent the disease from spreading further. Doctors amputated his left femur, and rotated and reattached his lower leg to make the heel into his new knee joint.
Among a large crowd of cheering students, Principal Justin Pierce addressed Boggs and the audience.
“I had the pleasure to speak with some of your fellow students and teachers and asked them, ‘can you describe David in a few words?’” Pierce said to Boggs. “There’s many things shared with me, but some things that stuck out were that ‘he brings brightness to my day,’ ‘that he loves learning and would do anything to be here with his students and friends,’ ‘that he’s occasionally a knucklehead,’ and that ‘he oozes positivity.’”
Battle Ground Mayor Philip Johnson was also in attendance. Johnson awarded Boggs with the “Honorary Mayor” certificate, which made him “mayor” for that day.
“To be mayor, you have to have a proper symbol, and in my mind, the proper symbol of a mayor is a bowtie,” Johnson said. “Normally it’s only bankers and mayors who wear them, so David, on behalf of myself and the city, let me hand this to your parents.”
Johnson then tied the bowtie around Boggs’ neck and handed his family the certificate.
Boggs’ mother, Racheal, describes her child as a “loving, adventurous, curious child.” She said he’s always been into science and asks a lot of questions. Racheal said Boggs is an “old soul” who gets along with everyone.
“He is the positive ray of sunshine in all of the darkness around us currently, even through the whole pandemic,” Racheal said. “Through all of the cancer, he always kept a smile on his face.”
Boggs was born in southern California, and moved to Palmer Lake in Colorado with his family when he was 6. They lived near an U.S. Air Force academy, which inspired Boggs’ dream of becoming an Air Force pilot. The family has lived in Battle Ground since July 2020.
“He never looked before he leaped,” Racheal joked. “He was always ready to go and explore the next thing. He would much rather be outside running around than be in front of any screen, which is unique to kids nowadays.”
On top of the celebration at school that day, David arrived home to see his wish granted, which was an entire game room setup so he could do Twitch streams, which is an online video game service where people play games live in front of an audience. His original wish was to go on a cruise to the Caribbean, but that was thwarted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The setup includes a headset, a new gaming computer with a 49-inch monitor, a gaming chair, a camera and a microphone. Portland Custom Closets also put in a new closet to keep Boggs organized, Racheal said.
Boggs’ diagnosis left a large impact on the family..
“It threw us for a loop,” Racheal said. “As a parent, you never expect to hear those words (cancer). Up until the last minute, they thought it could be an infection, and that’s what we were praying for, which is a weird thing to pray for. When they told us it was cancer, our whole world turned upside down. One of the first things they told us was, ‘if you’re not calendar people, become calendar people, because your whole life will be consumed with appointments and every appointment will be important and you won’t want to miss anything.’”
Boggs finished chemotherapy in November, but Rachael said he still hasn’t gotten all of his energy back. She said Boggs is almost back to being his normal self, “where he’s able to do things and go to places without being completely exhausted by the end of the day.”
Through Boggs’ story, Racheal and the family hope to spread awareness regarding childhood cancer.
In an email, Racheal noted that childhood cancer only receives 4% of federal funding for research. She also noted treatments aren’t child specific, so kids receive adult formulas and doses because of the lack of research.
