He’s a True Miracle

Brett Bonney and his family find life-saving cancer care close to home

Brett Bonney, 6, of Easton, Pa., used to travel with family to Philadelphia for leukemia care. He now gets the care he needs close to home at our Pediatric Specialty Center.

Brett Bonney of Easton, Pa., was 6 months old when he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in infancy. That was nearly six years ago, when Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network was just beginning to offer childhood cancer care. The Bonney family traveled to Philadelphia for his treatment, staying as long as two months at a time. But as his 18-month treatment progressed, Brett received more care close to home—and today, children with this disease may receive all their care at Lehigh Valley Hospital.

For outpatient chemotherapy, Brett (pictured with his mother, Beth) now 6, came to the Pediatric Specialty Center at Lehigh Valley Hospital—Muhlenberg. For overnight or intensive care, he stayed in the inpatient pediatrics unit and pediatric intensive care unit at Lehigh Valley Hospital—Cedar Crest and I-78.

“Staying in the hospital here felt like home because I could have my family and friends nearby, and the nurses and doctors gave us such amazing support,” Beth Bonney says. “Brett loved Thomas the Train, and whenever we walked in, they would have a video playing for him.”

The Bonneys needed support. Brett was hospitalized frequently, with pneumonia and other injuries related to severe immunosupression. He didn’t gain a pound for 18 months and was waiting for a bone marrow transplant.

Then his immune system started to work again and he didn’t need a transplant. After treatment stopped, he gained 30 pounds. His nurses called him a true miracle.

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