‘Miracles occur’: How an anonymous donation helps a father save his son's life

Carlos Romero (and) his father Juan recall the moment they got the call in 2017 about an anonymous donation that helped Carlos beat a rare form of bone cancer. – DENISE CROSBY/The Beacon-News/Chicago Tribune/TNS

WHEN the email came in from Juan Romero asking that I give him a call, I have to admit I did so with some apprehension.

The last time I had spoken with him, in February 2017, the Aurora, Illinois, father was desperate: His then-nine-year-old son, Carlos, was battling a rare and deadly bone cancer that tends to hit children and young adults. And he was struggling to come up with the money needed for an expensive drug, not approved in the United States, that could keep his son’s cancer in remission.