Smiley faces: Bethel Park teen cancer survivor brings cheer dressed as Easter Bunny
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Underneath the Easter bunny costume, Sean Rovers was smiling.
As he did last year, Sean dressed as the character and visited sick children.
He brought them baskets filled with toys, candy, books and stuffed animals — “all made with love,” his mother, Maria Rovers, said.
“I do it because I want to put smiles on kids’ faces who are fighting the battle of their lives,” Rovers, 14, an eighth-grader at Independence Middle School in the Bethel Park School District, said on Good Friday. “I know what that is like.”
Sean was diagnosed Oct. 22, 2017, at age 9 with a rare brain tumor. His cancer is a type of CNS Sarcoma called intracranial myxoid mesenchymal. He had his first brain tumor resection on Oct. 24 that year and was in the hospital for two weeks. The tumor recurred, requiring a second surgery and radiation.
Through this medical journey, Sean continues to smile.
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The two-time cancer survivor, with the help of his mom, created Smiles from Sean, an organization that creates kits – and in this case, Easter baskets — for ill children. The kits started with smiley-face pillows and now contain bright yellow bears and other items to help brighten the days of youngsters undergoing medical treatment. Everything is donated.
Sean and Maria send out kits all year long. They started gathering items for Easter baskets three years ago. Maria bought the Easter Bunny costume for herself. When she discovered she was too small for the costume, her son said he would do it. He dressed up and delivered baskets last year.
He had so much fun that he did it again this year.
Bryan and Nicole Blausey of Cecil, Washington County, gave some items for the baskets this year. They met the Rovers family through a Facebook post about their daughter, McKinley Blausey, 2. She and Sean Rovers had similar brain tumors.
McKinley was diagnosed when she was 5 months old. She will be 3 in July.
Sean brought McKinley and her brother Colton, who will be 5 in June, Easter baskets on April 15. It’s also important to bring a basket for siblings of a child with medical issues because it creates challenges for the entire family, he said. Sean has three younger brothers.
“It is amazing what Sean is doing,” Bryan Blausey said. “It really makes the kids’ day. Sean is such a great kid.”
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Over the past few weeks, Sean and his mother have visited 15 houses, in Cheswick, McCandless, Bethel Park, Upper St. Clair, South Park, Moon, Canonsburg, Cecil, Mt. Lebanon, Baldwin and Indiana. They mailed some baskets, too.
Maria Rovers handles the logistics, including driving her son and assisting him with getting the bunny suit zipped in the back. She parks a distance away from houses so that he can get in costume without the children seeing him.
When he arrived at Kalena Garcia’s house in Cecil, 5-year-old Pirlo held his mom’s had as they came outside to greet the Easter Bunny.
“He has been excited all day,” his mother said of her son. “This is just a beautiful thing.”
Carter Guess, 5, of Bethel Park, who recently had surgery to remove a tumor from his liver, came running outside with his brother Mark, 2, when parents Linh and Clark Guess said there was a surprise.
Sean and his mom approached the house with three baskets. The parents watched as the boys posed for photos with the Easter Bunny.
“We told them there would be a surprise,” said Linh Guess. “But we didn’t tell them what it would be.”
The baskets are created by volunteers and contain items specific to each child. There is a note that says the basket was created with love.
The ultimate goal is for Smiles from Sean to grow large enough to raise money to help fund cancer research for children, Maria Rovers said.
Next up are coin collections through the end of May in Bethel Park School District, at local businesses and by the Rotary of Upper St. Clair-Bethel Park.
“Sean loves doing this and it really helps bring smiles to the children we visit and those who we send baskets to,” his mother said. “We feel a connection to these other families who are in similar situations to what we have been through. It helps to support each other. We have made so many friends through delivering these baskets … and smiles.”