(Publisher’s Note: This story published a little more than a year ago and we’ve re-published because his amazing life continues. The young man is soon to begin school and Hines knows just how lucky he is. Steve Novotney’s work will return later this week.)
So, has he grown up to be a brat? A spoiled one at that?
It’s a fun question to ask these days because, well, Hines Rotriga is a talkative kid with a most healthy sense of humor instead of the small, bald child who spent more time curled up in his mother’s arms while tortured by untold waves of throbbing pain.
“But yeah, sometimes he can be a brat,” revealed Debbie Rotriga, wife of Kevin and mother of Hines. “He is a pretty good kid, though. I can’t say that he’s a brat all of the time.”
“That’s what I want to hear.”
WHOA!! WHAT!?
He said it out of nowhere and verbalized it like a sarcastic adult. The thing, though, is that Hines wasn’t even involved in the conversation. Instead, he was playing with his Hot Wheels cars and eavesdropping all at the same time.
“Hey, I usually go to bed at 9 p.m. and I fall asleep pretty fast. Even when the Steelers are on TV,” Hines claimed. “So, how can I be a brat if I go to bed when I’m supposed to?”
Yes, he has a point, and that’s because the innocence has remained within this child’s conscience even though for the majority of his first decade, Hines has been surrounded by an adult problem called cancer and every horrible aspect that goes with the deadly disease. In his case, it was neuroblastoma, a rare childhood cancer with only a 50 percent survival rate.
“I remember not feeling good, but that’s it. Other people have had to tell me how sick I was because I was too young back then,” Hines recalled. “I know I had cancer. I know I didn’t feel good. But I think I beat it because I was really strong. I didn’t like all of the long trips, but I did like the parties at Quaker Steak because I like bouncy houses. I’ll always bounce in bouncy house because it’s fun.
“Thousands and thousands and trillions of people have hugged me and told me to feel better. I didn’t know all of them when they hugged me, but I liked the hugs anyway,” he confessed. “I liked all of (the support) and that’s why I like to support other kids who are sick. I think it helped me.”
Double Digits
It was his second Christmas back in 2013 and the one-year-old baby boy was surrounded by the bright lights, the shiny bows, and the glistens of the season.
The child, though, wasn’t even walking and that’s why Debbie and Kevin took Hines to the emergency room. First, there was a mass behind his right ear. A tumor then was discovered in his tiny abdomen. Chemotherapy quickly followed, and then tests and more tests, sleepless nights and nightmares, and then, finally, unbelievably, the news everyone prayed for since fearing the absolute worst.
“People pray all of the time,” Debbie said, “but how many people can tell you their prayers were answered? Well, we can.”
That is why Hines was offered yet another memorable birthday this past week. Not only did he make his return to the local airwaves on River Talk 100.1/100.9 FM, but he turned 11 years old Friday and received a plethora of presents. Mostly importantly, Hines was all thumbs-up and full of thoughts about the future.
“When I’m old enough to drive, I want a Jeep truck,” he insisted. “It has to be red in the front, blue in the back, and there has to be a white stripe in the middle.”
And he knows exactly where he’ll park the Jeep truck, too.
“What I want to do when I get older is take over my uncle’s store and make it a garage for all of my cars in there. My Uncle Dave and Aunt Laura can stay, of course, because it has to stay a meat market,” Hines said with a while. “I do want a lot of cool cars when I get older, and I want one of them to be a monster truck that is really jacked up and cool looking because I’ll want to drive it on the road, too.
“Maybe, though, the monster truck would be too big for my uncle’s store so we would have to build a garage, too,” he calculated. “I haven’t told Uncle Dave any of this, but now I’m going to have to tell him because I’ll be the manager and the boss.”
‘Shush’ Is the Word
It’s been five years.
Ssshhhhhhhhh.
Only whisper it. Don’t dare say it aloud. Treat it like a secret.
Even though unspoken for the most part, the five years full of “no signs” medical reports remain on the minds of individuals closest to this miracle. It’s too good to be true and that’s why, after all, in a “glass half empty” world, happy memories are not made.
But they are now.
“I don’t think I’m a little boy anymore. I know I’m not grown up yet because I’m not in high school yet, but I’m not that little boy,” Rotriga insisted. “Since preschool to fourth grade, I have been at St. Mike’s and I really like it. I like my friends a lot because they’re nice to me and I’m nice to them. That’s why we get along.
“But I like being a boy now because I’m not sick anymore. I can play when I want and that’s the best part. And I get really dirty, too,” he said. “I’m taller, too, and that’s cool.”
These days, his Mom and Dad are frightened not of scan reports but by the maturity that comes out of Hines’ mouth.
“You have to like good music to be a happy person,” is something he said while explaining his love for playing the drums.
“I like to play putt-putt golf because I get holes in one all the time,” Hines explained while revealing that his favorite sports are golf, football, and basketball.
“I know I’m famous, but that’s only because people cared about me,” he said on the radio without a hint of a connected giggle.
“He still gets overwhelmed with the attention, but he’s more aware of everything now. He asked questions about some of the things he remembers,” Debbie said. “But most of the time, he’s just an 11-year-boy who plays with his toys and runs around outside.
“That’s why me and Kevin take every chance we get to thank everyone,” she added. “We’re blessed and we know it.”
