Meeting Finn is a moment that you will never forget! Guaranteed laughs and a smile so contagious, you wouldn’t believe the hardships that he has overcome in his 14 years of life.
Finn was born with Down syndrome and in 2022 he was diagnosed with leukemia. As quickly as chemotherapy was started, it was abruptly ended when it caused a debilitating stroke. Leaving Finn with the battle of regaining strength and control of his entire left side of this body, re-improving his balance, and gaining the speech back that he had worked so hard to learn in the first place. Finn’s doctors went into overdrive to find another treatment option and it’s only fitting that Finn’s one of a kind personality received a one of a kind treatment!
He began CAR-T cell therapy, a brand new form of cancer treatment. Finn is only the 14th person in the world with Down syndrome to live this long with this specific treatment, making him even more of a rockstar than he already is! The first 9 months of this new therapy required extreme precautions for Finn and his family. During his prescribed isolation, Finn became a movie fanatic (Grown Ups being a constant re-watched favorite) and always made sure to schedule his movie marathons around one important thing; University of Michigan football games!
Now getting monthly scans, Finn, who doesn’t know a single stranger, is loving being back at school with all of his friends and being able to participate in all of his sports. In the case Finn is busy being quarterback for his flag football team, he sometimes has to miss watching a Michigan game and his alma mater parents make sure to triple check it gets recorded with one outstanding rule: no one talks about the game until Finn has seen his favorite boys take the field.
We can’t wait to help Finn meet the University of Michigan football team with thanks to the Grandview High School Leadership Team!
