5-Year-Old Boy Stricken with Leukemia has Memorable Night in Guymon, Okla.
By: Tracy Renck, PSN Editor
Noah Patterson, 5, has already had to deal with a lion’s share of adversity is his young life.
Patterson was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in January of 2020. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the most common childhood cancer. It occurs when a bone marrow cell develops errors in its DNA.
“He does chemotherapy because this is a blood cancer,” said Morgan Garcia, Noah’s mother. “He is set to complete all forms of chemotherapy (May 17). The way leukemia works is a person doesn’t actually go into remission until five years after their final treatment date. For the last year-and-half, he has been doing a maintenance cycle that basically repeats itself. It is kind of crazy. He’s basically been taking oral chemo at home every day for the last year-and-a-half.”
Garcia and her son live in Guymon, Okla., home of the PRCA-sanctioned Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo, which was May 6-8.
“I saw that they offered mutton bustin’ at the rodeo for all the little kids in town,” Garcia said. “I signed him up for the mutton bustin’ and I wanted to make sure he got to be a part of the rodeo (on May 6) because the proceeds go to benefit families that are going through similar stuff like we are.”
The plan was just to have Patterson compete in the mutton bustin’ but it turned into far more.
“I have some friends who are on the rodeo committee, and they thought it would be really neat if he could go down there Friday night (May 6) and meet a couple of the riders,” Garcia said. “He met a couple of saddle bronc riders and he really loved them, and they showed him around. He had a really good time with them.”
The two saddle bronc riders who played host to Patterson were National Finals Rodeo qualifier Mitch Pollock and National Circuit Finals Rodeo champion Jake Finlay.
“It was pretty special,” Pollock said about the interaction with Patterson. “When you think about life and sometimes, we think we have it hard and you look at that 5-year-old boy and what he has dealt with. It was inspirational to see him show up with a smile on his face and to be honest with you, you would not even have known he had leukemia just by the way he acted.
“Jake Finlay and I had the privilege to spend an hour and a half with him and Noah’s smile made my whole trip to Guymon. Yes, I was able to win some money in Guymon, but the big picture was a 5-year-old boy changed Jake’s life and my life.”
Pollock said when he and Finlay were getting Patterson ready to compete in the mutton bustin’, they were overcome with emotion by Patterson’s words.
“Jake was telling Noah to hold on to this sheep tight and don’t let it go,” Pollock said. “Noah said, ‘Don’t worry guys I will never give up.’ When he said that Jake and I looked at each other and it was a good thing I had sunglasses on because that little boy brought tears to my eyes.”
Patterson not only held on, but he won the event.
“Right before he rode, Noah looked at the buckle Jake was wearing and he said ‘Wow, that is so cool,'” Pollock said. “When Noah got his buckle for winning his eyes just glowed. That right there, I was like holy smokes. No matter how I did, or Jake did that night we won no matter what because we were able to spend an hour-and-half with a very special boy who has gone through a heck of a lot more than I have, I will tell you that. I found out Noah didn’t have any ties to rodeo. He had some new boots on, and he had a handkerchief and we tied it in a cool buckaroo knot for him.
“I can’t tell you how inspirational it is, and everybody hears these stories all the time, but until you’re able to interact with someone like that and be there firsthand, it gives me goosebumps. People may have thought it was cool for Noah to hang out with a couple of saddle bronc riders, but it is totally the opposite. We got to hang out with a child who has battled through life and still has a smile on his face every day, and he’s only 5 years old. Jake and I were the real winners there.”
Finlay shared the same sentiments as Pollock about the experience.
“That was life-changing,” Finlay said. “When we told that little boy to hang on tight and he said I don’t give up, it darn near made me cry. That night when I rode, I didn’t care if I got bucked off because I got to spend time with Noah. He had such a positive attitude and that’s something I want to take with me.”
Garcia was taken back with how everything unfolded.
“I didn’t think he would win because he’s not had any experience doing anything like that before,” she said. “He did great and the whole experience was so exciting for him. It’s a little bit emotional because of everything he has gone through. There are different parts of what he’s gone through with chemotherapy that you worry are going to hold him back, but to see him do really good made me so happy for him. His leukemia didn’t set him back any.”
Courtesy of PRCA