Local child bravely battling cancer gets opportunity of a lifetime at Yankee Stadium

QUEENSBURY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Last weekend, 12-year-old Mason Queary did something most Yankees fan only dream of. He led a parade on the field at Yankee Stadium with thousands cheering him on. Yet for Mason, who is bravely battling cancer, the moment was about far more than baseball. 

“I’ve sat in the hospital for almost a year and a half, and not once did I let it stop me,” Mason stated.

Mason was diagnosed with an NGGCT germ cell brain tumor at 10. Following the diagnosis, he went through chemotherapy, and a ten-hour brain surgery. After the procedure, he had to learn how to walk and talk again.

“It’s like being reborn,” Mason explained. “Everything is taken away from you.”

 Throughout his recovery, he remained determined to beat the odds.

“He pulls the strength out of me,” Mason’s mom, Samantha Queary, stated. “There’s days that I’m upset or crying, and I try not to let him see me, and he’s like, ‘Mom, stop. You have to be strong.’ Yesterday, we stopped at Applebee’s after his MRI, and the waitress, her name was Hope. He goes, ‘That’s a coincidence. I had my MRI today, and my waitress, her name is Hope. So we just have to have hope.’”

Samantha said that through it all, she wants other parents going through similar struggles to know it’s okay to lean on those around you.

“No mom should have to hear this diagnosis,” Samantha added. “Accept the help. You really can’t try to do this on your own. You need to take the community support.”

She also wants parents to trust themselves when it comes to their child’s health.

“Trust your mom gut,” Samantha stated. “Push doctors to do more when you feel something isn’t right. And always get a second opinion. Reach out to other cancer moms. We understand and are here to help.”

Mason finds joy in being with his loved ones, something he wants others to never take for granted.

“Remember the important things in life, like family and friends,” Mason asserted. “I just enjoy every moment with my mom, my brothers and my sister.”

Mason is a big fan of the Yankees, so when he got to lead the pre-game parade, he was excited. 

“I walked all around the field, getting high fives from everyone,” Mason recalled. “I went to sit down, and the security guard came over and stopped me and handed me a ball from batting practice. That was pretty cool.”

Moving forward, he’s hoping to see his other favorite team, the Buffalo Bills.

“It would make my whole year meeting Josh Allen,” Mason noted.

Through it all, the comfort of home helps him through recovery. His best friend, Duke, who he adopted through Make A Wish, is there every step of the way.

“In the morning, he’ll play on my arm and stuff, making it very hard to do things while he’s lying there because I don’t want to wake him up. And then usually in the afternoon, I’ll be playing outside with him, and he’ll jump on me. He’ll give me a hug every time I’m feeling down a little bit. Usually at night when I go to bed with him, I’ll cover myself with a blanket, and then my dog will start forcing his head under the blanket.”

According to Samantha, the next step in his recovery is working on his sense of memory.

“He’s got a lot of memory loss short term as we’re working through it,” Samantha added. “It’s all part of the process. I think there’s a long road to the rest of his recovery to get him back to who he was.”

Approximately 1 in 285 children in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer before their 20th birthday. For Mason, it’s a reality that he lives with every day. But in the face of it all, he just keeps fighting. 

“It’s pretty funny how my doctor told my mom I would never be able to walk, talk or eat again,” Mason remarked, as he acknowledged his strength and milestones.

Mason is growing stronger each day, and when it comes to his story, he wants people to know one thing.

“Whatever you believe, you can achieve” Mason stated.