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At the end of Wednesday’s football practice, the entire team rushed over to 12-year-old Wyatt Page to shower the seventh grader from Eagle Mountain with gifts, including BYU shirts, headwear, tie and tickets to Saturday’s homecoming game against Boise State.
Offensive lineman Ethan Atagi told Wyatt that the team loves him, he’s part of their family and they’ll do anything he ever needs. That moment — having Wyatt hang out with the team and become part of the team — will be a memory that will be hard to top for the Page family.
Every week, a “hero” — usually a child — who is overcoming significant challenges is selected through the True Blue Heroes program. While usually invited out on Thursdays, Wyatt joined the team Wednesday because he was going to start his next round of radiotherapy on Thursday.
Last Friday, Wyatt, who has been battling cancer, was given a new prognosis: terminal. The 12-year-old has only a few months left to live, but hope to slow down that process by undergoing radiation.
Over the last year and a half, Wyatt was initially diagnosed with brain cancer (ependymomas) that spread to the scalp and metastasized. Now, he has a tumor down low in his brain and has spread to his lymph nodes.
With the new prognosis, it’s all about making memories like the one Wyatt enjoyed on Wednesday. Parents Doug and Emily Page want their only child to experience as much as possible over the next few months.
Emily Page described her son as a happy-go-lucky kid that’s always positive. Doug Page said that, despite everything his son has been through recently, he hasn’t been murmured one bit.
“He’s a happy kid,” Emily Page said. “He likes to floss and do all the fun dance moves.”
“Anything a normal 12-year-old likes to do,” Doug Page added.
If there’s one thing the Page family hopes people can take away from their situation it’s to find positivity in even the hardest trials.
“We could get into the whole political side of funding for kids cancer and all that type of stuff, but we’re choosing to just focus on enjoying the moments with him,” Doug Page said.
More BYU football coverage
BYU gave up 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and fell to USF. Our game story.
Fan may be blaming Kalani Sitake for the recent skid, but the players are sticking up for their coach.
The Cougars’ run defense needs to close up the gaps and start winning the battle of the trenches to stay in the game.
Mums the word on who will start at quarterback against Boise State. Cougar coaches won’t reveal whether it’s Jaren Hall or Baylor Romney until Saturday.
Other voices
Jeff Call of the Deseret News wrote about BYU’s most inexplicable losses during the independence era.
KSL’s Sean Walker covered the name change of Bulldog Boulevard to Cougar Boulevard.
The Daily Herald celebrated Cosmo the Cougar’s birthday with a photo gallery of the beloved mascot.
Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports checked in on which college football coaches are in jeopardy of losing their job, which included Sitake.
Around campus
• Junior midfielder Mikayla Colohan was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Week, her second of the season, the league announced Monday. Against Pepperdine and Pacific, Colohan scored a goal and recorded a pair of assists to help keep the Cougar soccer team undefeated in league play. Over the week, Colohan had two goals, four assists, eight points, 11 shots and 129 minutes played.
• BYU women’s volleyball freshman setter Whitney Bower was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Week on Monday. Bower recorded 32 assists, three kills, an ace, six digs and three blocks against San Francisco, becoming the BYU freshman rally era leader in assists.
• BYU’s Peter Kuest is the No. 1 ranked golfer in the nation according to the first NCAA rankings of the 2019-20 season, released Wednesday. The Cougars are ranked No. 5 as a team. The senior has posted an NCAA-low 67.90 scoring average and recorded three top-five finished in as many tournaments this season.
• The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame named BYU forward Yoeli Childs to its preseason watch list for the 2019 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award for the second-straight season. The annual honor recognizes the top power forwards in Division I men’s college basketball. The watch list includes 20 candidates. Semifinalists will be announced in February.
