July 7, 2004 – I'on Smith is a typical teen-ager who loves baseball. A senior at East High School in Columbus, Ohio, he spends his free time drawing cartoon animations. He looks forward to attending college to study business management.
Last year I'on was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a form of cancer.
I'on and his family are visiting St. Croix courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Ohio. The 18-year-old began his battle with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma last spring. During his treatment, representatives of the internationally known foundation offered to grant a wish to the teen-ager. His wish? To visit St. Croix with his mother and his older sister, Erin.
The family was given an all-expenses-paid vacation to the Virgin Islands and is staying at the Divi Carina Bay Resort. Locally, several businesses have donated inter-island trips, jewelry, dinners and boat rides to make sure the family enjoys its stay.
Asta Carrington, I'on's mother and a native Crucian, was devastated when she heard the news about I'on's condition. "The doctor told me it was cancer. All I could think was why? It psychologically threw me for a loop."
She said her son had complained of trouble swallowing, breathing and eating, and then she noticed a lump growing on his neck. She took him to the doctor, who examined him and took tests.
Breaking the news to I'on was not easy, Carrington said. "I went to his school to tell him," she recalled. "I told him that we all loved him and that we were going to go through this together. And then I prayed … I just went to God and begged him to take this from my son and give it to me."
Then, she said, she heard God ask her, "Whose report shall you believe?" Those words from her heart gave her hope.
Carrington has two other children, Alon, 30, and Erin, 25. Both siblings were deeply affected by their brother's illness. "It is so unfair," Erin said. "He is the baby of the family."
By the time I'on started chemotherapy, there were two lumps, one on his neck and another under his chin. But soon the family received some good news. "The doctors told us the chemo was working — the cancer had not spread," Carrington said.
Eighteen months later, I'on seems to be cancer free. But the teen still has regular doctor visits. "We have to monitor his T-cells every three months," his mother said.
I'on knows he faced his own mortality and survived.
"If I can get through this, I can get through anything," he said. "This is the biggest challenge I've ever faced."
I'on remarked on the wave of youth violence on St. Croix and around the country. "Some people I know take life for granted; they always have to prove a point," he said. "But they don't think about the outcome. You have to care about yourself. How can you care about other people if you don't care about yourself?"
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