'He was the brave one'

Somerset —

funeral will be held tomorrow for a little boy who has been a mighty warrior for the last year.

T.J. Compton, a student at Hopkins Elementary School who just turned eight years old on June 28, lost a brave battle against cancer on Tuesday.

Family members and friends are remembering T.J. as a kind hearted child who put others’ needs above his own — even in the face of a painful terminal illness.

T.J. was a healthy, active youngster for the first seven years of his life. Then last year, about a week before his seventh birthday, T.J. complained of a headache. Three days later, he collapsed into a seizure.

“They tried to wake him up, and he wouldn’t wake up,” his maternal grand-mother, Lynn Napier, said.

T.J. was brought to Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital, where a scan of his brain revealed a hemorrhaging tumor. Doctors performed emergency surgery to drain the fluid from his brain, and the following day, he was sent to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

Doctors originally belie-ved T.J.’s tumor would be “highly treatable,” Lynn recalled. But after results of a biopsy were returned, T.J.’s family heard the crushing news — the cancer was a type called “glioblastoma,” and the illness would be terminal.

T.J. spent three months in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy and radi-ation treatments to try to attack the tumor in his brain. By the time his treatments were over, 30 percent of the tumor remained, and T.J. seemed to be doing well.

Last September, he was released from the hospital, but three weeks later, he was sick and back in the Cincinnati hospital, Lynn said.

An MRI in October showed no change in the size of T.J.’s tumor, and another round of chemotherapy was begun.

“He couldn’t handle it,” Lynn said. T.J.’s blood count dropped danger-ously low, and his family decided to stop the treatments.

T.J. was sent back home in time to enjoy Christmas with his family. In fact, his health seemed to be improving — and family members began to be optimistic.

By January, Lynn said, T.J.’s MRI was “perfectly clear,” and by March, T.J. — who wanted to be known as a warrior — was strong enough to re-enroll in the first grade at Hopkins Elementary.

“His big wish was to go back to school,” Lynn said. “School was the highlight of his day. He would get up at six in the morning ready to go to school.”

T.J. left a remarkable impression on the staff of the school — Principal Fonda Crawford included.

“Even though he was in pain and weak from the cancer, he met me at the school door each morning and would say, ‘Let’s hold hands,’ and we would walk to breakfast,” she said. “He would thank the Lord for another day as he ate, and then, before he left each day, he would come by the office to thank us for letting him come to school, and he would hug and kiss each one of us.”

Near the end of April, another visit to the hospital revealed that not only had the tumor in T.J.’s brain returned, but his spine was also “full of tumors,” Lynn said.

“They were so big, they had probably been there the whole time,” she said. “Doctors couldn’t believe he was still walking.”

But T.J. did continue walking — arriving at school every day with a smile on his face and words of encouragement for his friends and teachers.

“He was a trooper through it all,” Lynn said. “He never complained. I would have to ask him if he was hurting.”

Students at Hopkins Elementary discovered a friend in T.J., who transferred to the school just last year after having previously attended school in Whitley City.

“The other students stepped up and showed true compassion and protection,” Fonda Crawford said. “He brought out the best in many students and their own families. The students would watch over him, read to him when he was too weak to sit up, walk him to class to make sure he arrived OK, and hug him — including high school students who came by to say hi.”

Somerset High School’s football team visited T.J. both at home and at school on many occasions. Plans were to make T.J. the team’s honorary captain and to allow him to toss the coin to kick off the season next month. The family believes the team will still honor T.J. in some way during the first game of the season.

T.J. also got a special visit from University of Kentucky football player Tony Dixon while he was at Hopkins this spring — and UK basketball coach John Calipari gave him an autographed ball.

He finished the 2009-2010 school year on May 28.

Shortly after summer break began, the Make A Wish Foundation made it possible for T.J. and his family to realize T.J.’s dream of meeting profess-ional wrestler John Cena.

Cena met with T.J. backstage during a match in Cincinnati.

“He was so kind to him — so soft-spoken and gentle,” Lynn said.

As T.J.’s illness progressed, the young boy realized he would never grow to be an adult — yet he never seemed saddened by his fate.

“He was the brave one — the one who kept us up,” Lynn said. “He was always worried about everyone else. If he thought someone was sick or sad, it worried him.”

T.J.’s family dealt with the shock and sadness of his terminal illness for the better part of a year, but, Lynn said, they “had to try to hide it from him” because he didn’t want to see his family members sad.

“Short of a miracle, we knew it was coming,” she said of T.J.’s eventual passing.

T.J.’s uncle, Trevor Mayfield, recalled a conversation he had with T.J. about heaven. Trevor began to cry, but T.J. wiped his uncle’s tears and told him he would be all right.

“He knew (he was going to die eventually),” Lynn said. “Nobody told him, but he knew. He told people he was going to live with Jesus, and he wanted everyone else to go to heaven too. He had no qualms about it. He never acted scared. ... He had a very close relationship with God.”

Only in the last week of his life did T.J. express a hint of fear.

“He got a little scared when he lost his sight,” Lynn said. “He said it was so dark.”

Now, however, T.J.’s loved ones are confident that he is no longer in darkness — and that he’s gone to heaven just as he had planned.

T.J.’s family celebrated his eighth birthday a little early this year — holding a party at his “Nana” Lynn’s house in Somerset on June 19.

“He was starting to get bad,” Lynn said of the family’s choice to hold the party early. “He was pretty weak, and he couldn’t walk. We had to bring him outside in his wheelchair.”

In spite of his weakened state, T.J. thoroughly enjoyed his 150-200 visitors — and his “Phineas and Ferb”-themed birthday cake.

In the wake of T.J.’s passing, his family is hoping his story will inspire others just as he inspired those he met while he was alive.

“I am honored that my path crossed with T. J. Compton,” Fonda Crawford said.

“He lifted me up and continues to do so because of his strength, love of life, hugs and kisses. He was truly an angel sent from heaven for a special purpose. Now he is back to heaven to richly be rewarded for eternity.”

“Never take for granted that your child is healthy,” Lynn warns other parents. “You never know...”

T.J.’s family wants to thank the many community members who have helped them during the last year.

“The community really came together,” Lynn said. “There were so many people praying, visiting, making donations. ... T.J. appreciated everyone coming and visiting with him.”

Visitation for T.J. will be today at 6 p.m. at Lake Cumberland Funeral Home in Somerset. His funeral will be held tomorrow at 2 p.m.

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Elementary student T.J. Compton, 8, was taken by cancer, but is an inspiration to friends, family

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