It’s been a crazy few years for one very special toddler who has won the hearts of millions around the world. Landon Shaw, son of Brandon and Alyssa Shaw of rural Tarkio, continues to prove to all that miracles can and do happen.
Diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer at the age of four months, Landon went through a year and a half of treatments and came out of it with a smile on his face and a label of cancer free.During his treatments, a Plunge for Landon campaign spread like a wave traveling around the world with people from over 30 foreign countries and all 50 states plunging into water with glee to raise funds for a baby most had never met or heard of. It only took a few months for donations to reach amazing amounts that helped the Shaws pay for some of Landon’s continued medical treatments.
Nowadays, the three year old is growing like a weed and recently began preschool at Tarkio R-I.
In a recent interview with Eppie Pallangyo with News-Press Now, Landon’s mother Alyssa said, “Landon is the happiest baby, toddler, child that I have ever known. With everything that he endured and everything he is not capable of doing, he does not let anything stop him.” Alyssa said, “He loves school. He loves the teachers, and the other kids make him so happy. They have a sensory room at the school for kids with autism or sensory issues – It’s so relaxing for him.”
Though Landon is a miracle in so many ways, he still faces struggles he’s working to overcome. In the News-Press interview, Alyssa went on to say, “There’s nothing medically that can make him not walk. It’s just time to build up muscle and strength and getting him used to pressure on his legs.”
She said they are working on oral feedings with little success and the radiation treatments possibly caused his lack of speech.
“He’s 3 years old, but they probably put him at an 8 month-old,” Shaw said. “He is figuring out things like crawling, sitting and just grabbing things and getting what most babies get the first year of life.” She also said they visit doctors frequently and his development is progressing faster.
“He has gotten up on all fours, which is a big milestone,” Shaw said. “When he was in the hospital, he was on his back most of the time. He didn’t start rolling until the end of his therapy. He just started sitting up on his own without any props, so it’s awesome.”
Shaw said people still ask about Landon, and she is grateful for their continuous support. To learn more about Landon’s story, visit his Facebook pages at “Team Landon” or “Plunge for Landon (Post Your Plunges And Donations).” “What’s next for Landon is that he’s going to be a kid and get to enjoy things that he never could,” Shaw said.