Prairieview Student Takes Center Field at ISU Football Game

Vincent Dillon is an 8th grader at Prairieview School.

“I like weight training, math, and Spanish classes. I play football and hockey,” Vincent says.

Meeting Vincent today, you’d never suspect cancer was a part of his childhood journey.

Receiving a Cancer Diagnosis

“Doctors diagnosed Vincent in January of 2020,” Vincent’s mom, Amy Dillon, recounts. “He went to the doctor for abdominal pain and was sent to the hospital for scans, which revealed he had multiple tumors in his belly. Once at Blank Children’s Hospital, he was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma.”

The cancer is a rare but highly aggressive and fast-growing non-Hodgkin lymphoma. At the time of his diagnosis, Vincent was in 4th grade at Grant Ragan Elementary. He started treatments immediately, which was right before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“He left school for winter break and didn’t go back. When he got better, the COVID lockdown was in full effect, so he didn’t go back to school in person until 5th grade,” Vincent’s dad, Steve Dillon, says.

Becoming an Iowa State University Kid Captain

While in 5th grade, a Blank Children’s Hospital committee selected Vincent for its Kid Captain program. A collaboration between the hospital and Iowa State University, the programs invite Kid Captains to go center stage at an ISU football game.

“ISU was playing games, but they weren’t allowing the Kid Captains to go because of COVID,” Amy explains. “This year, Blank Children’s Hospital realized Vincent never actually got to experience a game, so they asked him if he wanted to do it this season.”

Kid Captains share their story, meet the team, and participate in on-field activities. Iowa State will feature Vincent during the Nov. 4 Homecoming game against Kansas.

Among the people attending the game with Vincent is his grandpa.

Getting Two Cancer Diagnoses in One Day

“The day Vincent woke up with belly pain so bad he could barely walk, we took him to the pediatrician, who said to go to the ER immediately. That same day, my dad was having similar issues, so we were all in the ER together,” Amy shares. “Doctors diagnosed Vincent and my dad with cancer on the same day. They had different kinds of cancer. My dad had a tumor on his stomach that doctors could remove, and he recovered without chemo.”

Vincent, on the other hand, completed five rounds of multiple kinds of chemotherapy. After that, he went in monthly to get scans to ensure the cancer didn’t return. Now, Vincent only goes for scans yearly, and there hasn’t been any evidence of disease since.

“It’s to the point that most people don’t even know he was sick. He rebounded great. We were concerned at the beginning he’d be behind from missing school, but that hasn’t been the case,” Amy says.

Enjoy the game, Vincent! Your Waukee CSD family is cheering you on!