CHARLOTTE — Two young boys from Lake Norman became best friends after being diagnosed with the same cancer.
They gave each other hope while fighting one of the toughest battles.
For Dominic and Beau, how they met is a big part of their story.
In April 2024, at the St. Jude affiliate clinic at Novant Health in Charlotte. Dominic was receiving treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and Beau had just been diagnosed with the same cancer.
“That was our very first day in the clinic, and Robin, the social worker, actually was like, Hey, I think you guys would hit it off, and so she introduced us,” Beau’s mother Ashlyn Martoia said.
Ashlyn’s son Beau was 2 years old; Cara Thomas’s son Dominic was 4 and a year into treatment, which included chemo and steroids.
“He looked at Beau as his protector, and he didn’t want him to hurt or be going through what he was going through,” Thomas said.
And when Dominic entered remission and got to ring the bell, Beau cheered him on.
“When he saw Dom ring the bell, it was just that ultimate motivation of like, I get to do this one day,” Martoia said.
That day did come; Beau rang the bell in August. Dominic was there, and the families celebrated his remission with ice cream.
“The boys just played so hard and they, you know, had their ice cream and ran through the water fountains at Birkdale and just had the best time and it was just pure joy of just watching them,” Martoia said.
The families say having someone who understands what you’re going through makes those moments even more meaningful.
“It kind of opens your eyes to what’s important in life, and that’s it: your family, your friends, people that love you,” Thomas said, “That’s number one.”
Friends now bonded forever.
Leukemia is the most common form of childhood cancer, with the first symptoms being unexplained bruising and tiny red dots.
St. Jude patients have a 94% survival rate.
Beau and Dominic had all of their treatment at the St. Jude affiliate in Charlotte and did not need to travel to St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis. But like all St. Jude patients anywhere, the families never received a bill from St. Jude.
Beau’s family has a team for the St. Jude walk on Oct. 10 in Charlotte, to help raise money for families like theirs. The walk will be from 8:30 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. at First Ward Park.
Dominic’s family has since donated 50 thousand dollars to Novant Health’s Hemby Children’s Hospital to help any child in need. There will soon be a room named after him.