Young son of Las Vegas officer battles rare cancer; Seeking support from the community

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Hayden Buckland is battling Ewing’s Sarcoma - a rare, aggressive cancer that accounts for only 2-3% of all children’s cancers.

“It can become very aggressive once it starts to spread. It starts in soft tissue around the bone and once it spreads throughout the body there’s about a 30% survival rate. Luckily, in Hayden’s case, we were able to catch it early,” said Hayden’s father, Las Vegas Police Officer Andrew Buckland.

Andrew said it started with a pain in Hayden’s leg that wouldn’t go away, and the doctors immediately knew something was wrong.

“So far, he’s undergone 12 weeks of chemo. In about a week or two, he’s going to have a surgery to remove the tumor as well as possibly a portion of his femur,” said Andrew.

Behind the Blue has organized a fundraiser for the surgery to help Hayden beat this disease.

On his way to conquering cancer, Hayden has been facing his fight with a smile, and he’s even discovered a new passion.

“Since he can’t be outside, he can’t be playing around because the doctors don’t want him to injure his leg, he’s taken a huge love with building Legos,” said Andrew. “He’s defeating all these Legos that are 18 and up super fast, like in a matter of days.”

“I actually really like the Mario Legos I built,” said Hayden.

Hayden has even taught his tough dad some lessons about being a fighter.

“Spent 8 years in the Marine Core, deployed Iraq, Afghanistan. A lot of battles in my life,” said Andrew. “But this is something completely on the next level. And watching him be so strong just tells me there’s nothing you can’t overcome.”

If you’d like to donate to Hayden’s fight, click here.

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