childhood cancer awareness month hereos
Gerben Hettinga: A Little Boy with Big Strength
Gerben Hettinga came into the world with dirt on his hands and joy in his heart. From the moment he could walk, he wanted to be outside—on tractors with his dad, racing his dirtbike, or playing with monster trucks and Hot Wheels in the sand. He was the definition of energy, curiosity, and life.
At just 3 years old, Gerben was already playing baseball and attending preschool part-time. But his parents started noticing something was off. He couldn’t keep up with the other kids. He didn’t want to be outside anymore. His boundless energy was gone, replaced by irritability, lethargy, and a persistent desire to lie on the couch in the same spot every day. His appetite faded. Something was wrong.
The pediatrician suggested the changes were emotional—perhaps due to the arrival of Gerben’s new baby brother. But four appointments later, after pushing for answers and being told bloodwork wasn’t urgent, his parents found a cancellation an hour away and took him in.
That decision saved his life.
The next morning, they were told to go to the emergency room—immediately. Gerben’s blood levels were dangerously low, and he needed a transfusion. After being stabilized with three blood transfusions and several failed IV attempts, he was transferred to Loma Linda Children’s Hospital.
Then came the longest night.
From a hospital room window, his family watched fireworks on the 4th of July, waiting for bone marrow biopsy results. The next morning, they were brought into a conference room where their world changed forever. On the whiteboard, leukemia cells were drawn out in black marker. The word was spoken aloud:
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
That day, their world shattered into a million pieces.
No one imagines cancer entering their home. It’s something you hear about in commercials with sad music, something that happens to “other” families. But in a moment, it becomes your child. Your new reality. Life changes from packing preschool snacks to hanging chemo bags and counting transfusions. Nights are sleepless, filled with beeping machines, whispered nurse visits, and the constant fear of infection.
Everything stopped. Their world shrank to a hospital room and a new language of labs, central lines, and medication schedules. Work, insurance forms, and survival all blurred into one.
But despite it all, Gerben fought.
Today, Gerben is in Maintenance. He’s not free of the journey—there are still side effects, still challenges—but he is back playing with friends, back outside in the dirt, just like before. There were highs and crushing lows this past year, but by God’s grace, his family is simply grateful—for every moment, every smile, every day.
Gerben’s story is not just one of illness, but of incredible strength, persistence, and a little boy’s powerful return to joy.
