Country musician Luke Bryan sings to Colorado 7-year-old fighting cancer
By JASMINE ARENAS
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DENVER (KCNC) — A wish was just granted for one little girl who has spent her entire life fighting.
Mary Stegmueller got to meet Luke Bryan at his concert at Ball Arena on Saturday night. Her wish was granted when someone connected to the Archdiocese of Denver and former Nuggets player and announcer Bill Hanzlik. As a result, a private suite at the arena was donated to Mary and her family so they could enjoy the concert.
If it wasn’t for the donated suite, they would not have been able to go.
Her family shared with CBS News Colorado that Mary had the best night. They are truly thankful for the opportunity of a lifetime.
Kristin Stegmueller, Mary’s mother, said Mary stayed awake through the whole concert.
“She just kept getting up to dance,” Stegmueller said. “When she met him he started to sing one of his songs to her and she tried to pop up to dance and she was legitimately swooning in his arms.”
The Stegmueller family is thankful to those who played a role in making sure the whole family had an opportunity to see Bryan in concert on Saturday.
Mary is a Catholic Student. She attends Frassati Catholic Academy in Thornton. The suite was made possible thanks to Hanzlik, a man who doesn’t know her but shares her faith and worked his connections to make it possible. He’s a founder of the youth sports organization Gold Crown Foundation.
“If we hadn’t had a donation of the suite, she would not have been able to go to the concert because she would’ve been in general (admission seating) and she’s immunosuppressed,” said Stegmueller.
At 4 ½ years-old, Mary was diagnosed with DIPG (Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma), a rare type of pediatric terminal brain cancer.
“When she was diagnosed, we were told we had six to nine months if we would do radiation,” said Stegmueller.
But three years later, Mary is thriving and going strong. Now at seven-years-old, after going through clinical trials and a couple brain surgeries, she keeps fighting the good fight.
“She has fought everything, she’s had over 42 sessions of radiation, 12 of those she did awake. She’s had over 70 MRI’s ” said Stegmueller.
It’s been hard for the now seven-year-old to fight this type of cancer.
According to the brain tumor charity, the average overall survival for people with DIPG is less than 1 year, generally ranging from 8-11 months. About 10 percent of people survive at least two years after diagnosis. About two percent of people survive at least five years after diagnosis.
As she battles this cancer, country music and Luke Bryan have been her saving grace, which is why Saturday night will always be a moment they remember.
“You never know how much time you have and we just want to be able to look back and remember all this time we’ve had,” said Stegmueller.
Mary begins radiation again on Monday.
She will do 12 days and then go back to clinical trials.
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