PEORIA, AZ — If you ever thought you were too young or too old to make an impact or leave a legacy behind, a Peoria boy is showing all of us that age has no bearing on our ability to impact our community.
Miles Mortensen, just 6 years old in 2018, passed away after a brave four-year battle with a pediatric cancer called Neuroblastoma.
Miles was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma at the age of 2, but never let the chemo treatments, the radiation, the clinical trials, or the pain stand in his way.
When Miles was 5, doctors cleared him to start Kindergarten at Alta Loma Elementary School, part of the Peoria Unified School District.
"I would sit across the street in my car with binoculars and watch him on the playground," explains Miles' mom, Janna, with a smile on her face. "It was the best year of our lives."
It was a year Janna was worried her son would never see. She remembers that fateful doctor's appointment when her family received the gut-wrenching news.
"The nurses said, 'we are going to bring in the oncologist to speak with you,' and Clay and I actually had to Google what an oncologist was because we had never heard of that word before. Once we realized they were talking about cancer, we were devastated."
But once Miles was cleared to begin school, Janna thought perhaps he was turning a corner.
"I remember taking him to Target and getting him school supplies and just feeling so grateful that we had the ability to give him this normal piece of life."
But that sense of normalcy would be short-lived. Just a few months after Kindergarten graduation, Miles would relapse for the second and final time.
"I don't think you can put into words knowing that your child is leaving you," explains Janna.
On Sept. 11, 2018, Miles gained his angel wings, as his family so beautifully describes it.
"He just kind of raised his body and literally raised his arms and then just felt him pass away. It was the strangest thing...He looked up like someone was receiving him...To go through weeks of cancer treatment, and fevers and sickness and chemo and all the things while still going to kindergarten, he was truly incredible."
When you lose someone close, especially a child, there is a sense of not just mourning the life that has ended, but all of the things their future would have held. But there was one major milestone Miles' school - Alta Loma Elementary - wanted to make sure he and his family didn't have to miss out on.
During the eighth-grade promotion last month, the school decided to recognize Miles by leaving an empty chair for him among his classmates, creating a special plaque and certificate, and a bouquet of yellow flowers, to commemorate the official color for childhood cancer.
"We recognize legendary Lobos, and he is one of them," said Alta Loma's principal in a video shared with ABC15 of the ceremony.
Miles was so legendary, in fact, that even eight years later, he was celebrated for the superstar student he was.
"There was a chair at the end, and it had this beautiful plaque...and the entire auditorium was just standing and clapping and just showing the love," explains Janna. "It doesn't make up for Miles not being there for the ceremony itself, but just being there and still having his name be called, it feels like a part of his life has been fulfilled with that."
"Legacy is not measured in years, but in the way someone touches the lives of others, and Miles' legacy is one of love, resilience, and joy," said Alta Loma's principal during the ceremony.
"He is not forgotten," says Janna. "And our Alta Loma community is built on exactly this."
Janna also believes there is a vital life lesson that can be drawn from the ceremony itself.
"Specifically for the promoting class, he made an impact for them as well, and they can make an impact at any age."
After Miles passed away, Janna started a nonprofit called Smiles 4 Miles, which provides toys and prizes to children going through treatment at Banner Thunderbird. To learn more or to donate, click here.
Continuing the legacy
"I don't think he thought he was much different than anybody else," explains Janna about Miles, who attended school in 2017-2018 without hair as he underwent chemotherapy treatments. "Looking at him - besides the fact that he was perfectly bald - you wouldn't know he was different from any other kid!"
The truth was, what Miles may have been missing from his head, he more than made up for in his heart.
Despite undergoing chemo, radiation, clinical trials, and so much more, Miles pushed through his Kindergarten year at Alta Loma Elementary.
Despite the fact that Miles was so small, he was already serving as a huge inspiration for someone who really needed it at Alta Loma.
Bernadette Holladay, a teacher - and now close family friend to the Mortensens - says there was something so inspiring about the way Miles handled his journey.
"He had a smile that would light up a room he walked into," explains Bernadette. "He was just always so happy...Just his strength and happiness he had was amazing to see."
It was amazing because Bernadette was watching someone very close to her go through a similar cancer battle.
"The year Miles was in Kindergarten with us, my brother was diagnosed with cancer," explains Bernadette. "Miles and his family really helped my family get through that."
Her older brother, Vince, was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. The two families bonded over their battles; Bernadette says Janna would provide her brother with playlists he could listen to during his chemo sessions; there were times where Bernadette would reach out over the phone for advice - and just the simple fact of knowing Janna and Miles were there made all the difference.
"My brother looked up to Miles. Just his bravery and strength were something my brother really admired and helped him fight through his tough battle as well. That's something my brother had shared was that Miles was his hero."
Sadly, both Miles and Vince would succumb to their diseases, but not without leaving behind huge legacies - and leaving us all with the reminder that we can be beacons of light for each other.
"I think it would have been more difficult [for Vince]," explains Bernadette. "Having that connection and knowing someone going through something so similar and having a whole family of support around that made a big impact on his fight."
