BOSTON — Devin Suau, the lovable Framingham boy who captured the hearts of people everywhere, has sadly passed away after a brave fight with a rare form of pediatric cancer.
He was six years old.
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We all got to know Devin and his story earlier this year when we spoke with his family shortly after he was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG).
Christine and James Suau, Devin’s parents, said they took him to a hospital in January after receiving a concussion while snowboarding. While their son was being evaluated, that’s when the doctors discovered the inoperable tumor on his brain stem.
At the time, he was given anywhere from eight months to two years to live.
“Being told that your 6 year old has a maximum of two years of life is beyond anything you can comprehend,” Christine told Boston 25 News at the time.
Following the diagnosis the family set up a GoFundMe page to collect donations to help pay for Devin’s treatments, and started the hashtag #WhyNotDevin with the hopes of raising awareness about the disease and to help fund more research to find a cure.
#WhyNotDevin took off.
Devin started receiving well-wishes from people around the world from Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Gov. Charlie Baker, to Kim Kardashian-West, Mark Wahlberg, Will Ferrell and Mel Gibson. He was even blessed by Pope Francis in Rome.
Devin was also sworn in by local police departments and signed to several sports teams.
In the few short months before his death, Devin continued with rigorous treatments at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston.
He would wear a superhero cape to channel his favorite superhero, The Green Lantern.
His mom and dad said that idea was 100 percent his, and he never even talked about superheroes until his diagnosis.
After exhausting all options locally, Devin and his family began to travel to London to receive more treatments. One of those trips lasted two-and-a-half weeks to have brain surgery, and then recover.