Photo Courtesy Of KSDK
Missouri teen, Jaylon Hamilton’s last wish to see the Black Panther sequel was granted shortly before he tragically lost his battle to cancer.
According to KSDK, a Marvel representative flew to St. Louis with a copy of the second installment of the Black Panther film series, Wakanda Forever. The December 5th Fund, which supports patients undergoing cancer treatment, additionally provided treats, including smoothies–Jaylon’s favorites–instead of popcorn.
“He picked the Pumpkin Delight and the Orange Extreme,” the fund’s Executive Director, Tom Wiley, shared. He added that they also delivered “huge baskets” of “Marvel-related” items.
“We provided just huge gift baskets of treats, ‘Black Panther’ memorabilia and anything else that’s Marvel-related,” Wiley said.
The sweet surprise arrived to the 19-year-old after his sister, Jatavia Davis, made a Facebook post in hopes of reaching the Marvel Studios team.
“I’m not the biggest fan of social media, but this was one instance when I feel like something good came from social media,” she said, sharing that he enjoys superhero movies. “He likes stuff like that.”
Jaylon had been staying at Evelyn’s House in Creve Coeur, an 18,000-square-foot ranch-style house operated and owned by BJC Hospice. In January 2021, he was diagnosed with a rare type of nerve cell cancer.
“Jaylon had a very large tumor by the time he was diagnosed and a very painful tumor,” Washington University Oncologist Dr. Angela Hirbe told KSDK. Sadly, after a bunch of tests, doctors determined that chemotherapy and radiation weren’t an option.
“Everything that we were doing for him was trying to prolong his life for as long as we could and to try to maintain as good of a quality of life as we could,” said Hirbe. However, Jaylon’s sister was determined to make the rest of his life the best of his life. She reportedly helped raise him, as he lost his parents when he was very young.
“A lot of my patients have big families and lots of family and friends. They always have people around taking care of him,” Dr. Hirbe said. ” I just, I think that he and his sister had to work really hard in life. They have each other, but I wanted him to feel like he had a village behind him.”
The Missouri teen died peacefully on Nov. 18.