Green Country Boy Battling Leukemia Keeps Hope Alive On Birthday

You've heard a lot about Super Bowl heroes lately, but sometimes the littlest folks are the biggest heroes.

A very courageous Green Country boy is celebrating his birthday away from home on Sunday.

Cleveland third-grader Bryce Edwards is in Memphis, where he's staying at the Ronald McDonald House and receiving treatment through St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

He's been riding bikes and opening presents from loved ones. He was able to just be a kid. And he hasn't stopped smiling.

Bryce has leukemia and has been a trooper while fighting for nearly two years. Last spring, he was granted a Make-A-Wish trip and was able to see his dreams up close in San Diego.

Now Bryce is undergoing yet another round of chemotherapy. Then doctors will decide on a bone marrow transplant. Bryce's sister, who is in fourth grade at Cleveland, is his bone marrow match.

Teachers and friends say Bryce (or Little "Bebo" as his family calls him) is one of the happiest, sweetest boys you'll ever meet.

His hometown must agree, too. A couple of weeks ago, as he headed back to Memphis for treatment, Cleveland decked itself out in "Blue for Bryce" to show support.

The little one was so excited to see photos on Facebook of hundreds of classmates and townspeople in blue, that he told the staff at St. Jude all about how everyone did something special just for him, his mother said.

The family said they met a mother and daughter from Wagoner at the hospital, and were encouraged to learn the girl had a successful transplant and beat acute myeloid leukemia.

Bryce's parents have asked that even though he has a match through his sister, that all Oklahomans consider joining the bone marrow registry.

The family worries for Bryce's health, but they also are wishing no one would have to endure the same trials.

Sunday, mother Sharon Garrison posted on Facebook a photo as the two were reading from Dr. Seuss.

"Today on Bryce's birthday, this is our wish for all who are sick," she wrote.

Attached was a photo of the book's text:

"But it all turns out all right, you see. And I go back to being me."

Click to read more: A charity in Bryce's hometown helps to lift his spirits