Boy, 14, battling leukemia is named a honorary Navy SEAL after being surprised by veterans in his hospital room…The Daily Mail

On December 14, 2015 by Michelle Love

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3358489/Boy-14-fighting-leukemia-named-honorary-Navy-SEAL.html

A 14-year-old boy fighting his second battle with leukemia was made an honorary US Navy SEAL in his North Carolina hospital bed.

BJ Correll has dreamed of becoming a SEAL ever since a middle school project inspired him years ago.

A stocking that reads ‘Future Navy SEAL’ even hangs on the door to his room at the Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte.

BJ Correll, 14, was made an honorary US Navy SEAL during a ceremony in his hospital room at the Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina on Thursday

BJ is fighting his second battle with leukemia. He has dreamed of becoming a Navy SEAL ever since he was inspired by a middle school project years ago

And on Thursday that dream became a reality when BJ got a surprise visit from SEAL veterans, who presented him with a flag as they declared him an honorary member.

The dream was organized by the SEAL Swim Charities, which wanted to do something special after hearing BJ’s story.

‘He shows the character of what SEAL would be like,’ veteran Stephen Brown told Fox 5 Atlanta.

‘He’s very strong. He has gone through so much. So much pain, not just physically but mentally.’

‘And he’s stayed so strong through it.’

BJ thanked the SEALs and said it was an honor. They replied that it was they who felt honored and that they were proud to serve with him.

‘With everything he has fought for, he would make a great SEAL,’ Brown told TWC News.

‘And I would love to train him.’

BJ got a surprise visit from SEAL veterans, who presented him with a flag and a plaque

BJ found out in May 2015 that the cancer had returned, only eight months before he was scheduled to end his chemotherapy treatment (he’s pictured here with his mother Michelle Love)

The family is now planning for a bone marrow transplant and BJ’s 10-year-old sister is hoping she will be a match so she can be his donor, according to the teen’s GoFundMe page.

BJ found out in May 2015 that the cancer had returned, only eight months before he was scheduled to end his chemotherapy treatment.

The news was a huge blow for the teen, who had begun playing football again and had just run a marathon.

Michelle said the moment she told BJ the cancer was back her ‘heart was being ripped to shreds,’ she wrote in a letter to WBTV‘s Molly Grantham.

The mother wrote her soon screamed ‘No! Why? No, no!’ when he first heard the news.

‘But a few hours after his raw emotional reaction he was back to being rock solid,’ she writes.

‘He’s been that way ever since.’