When Make-A-Wish Foundation approached Peter Srsich, a stage-four cancer patient, offering to make a dream of his come true, the 17-year-old boy had an unusual request: he wanted to meet the pope.
Two years later, the Colorado teen is in remission - and he has credited his encounter with Benedict XVI with helping him beat the cancer.
Srsich, a devout Catholic who is now studying for priesthood, is well aware that his cancer was cured thanks to decades of medical research and his doctors' extensive training - but he believes that meeting the former pontiff in Rome has restored his faith and gave him strength to fight for his life.
For Peter, the harrowing ordeal started in 2011 with a simple cough. When the lanky 6-foot-6 lacrosse player returned from a canoe trip in July of that year, he felt overwhelmed with the kind of fatigue that he had never experienced before, ABC News reported.
The family suspected that the boy came down with pneumonia, but the reality was much more terrifying: doctors discovered a softball-sized mass in his left lung that was pressing on his heart. The tumor was diagnosed as a stage-four cancer.
Luckily for Peter, he was young, strong and very athletic, giving him a good chance for survival.
What followed was six months of grueling cancer treatment, which included seven rounds of chemotherapy that left the teenager completely bald.
Srsich's diagnosis and treatment had another impact on the boy: it plunged him into depression and made him question why all this was happening to him.
But the 17-year-old still found comfort in his faith. Knowing that he was devout, a friend created 1,200 lime-green wristbands with the words 'Praying for Peter' on them, along with Srsich's favorite Biblical passage, Romans 8:28.
Out of the blue: For Peter, an athletic 17-year-old, it all started with a cough and a feeling of overwhelming fatigue, which turned out to be stage-four cancer
Three months into his treatment, Srsich was approached by the Make-a-Wish Foundation - a charity that grants wishes to children suffering from life-threatening illnesses.
Peter's dream was an unusual one: the 17-year-old high school student wanted to go to Rome and see the pope in person.
'I would have been perfectly fine if I just got a tour of the Vatican,' he later said
The Italian branch of Make-A-Wish helped organize the $14,000 trip, covering the cost of plane tickets, accommodations, meals and spending expenses.
‘After meeting Peter, there was no doubt in my mind it was his true wish and it was going to play an important role in what he wants to do career-wise,’ said his gift coordinator LuAnn Griffin.
On a sunny day in May 2012, Peter, his parents and 15-year-old brother, Johnny, filed into St Peter’s Square in the Vatican to hear Pope Benedict XVI address the multinational audience in five languages.
Afterwards, Peter and his family were invited to queue up before the pope along with a number of high dignities.
Srsich was concerned: everyone else in line waiting to speak to the pontiff came bearing expensive gifts, but he only had a lime-green rubber wristband to offer the leader of the Catholic church.
Finally, his turn was up to meet the pope. Towering over the diminutive pontiff, Peter told him that he had cancer and asked him for a blessing. And then something unexpected happened.
‘He looked at me and said, “Oh, you speak English?” and put his hand on my chest right where the tumor had been, even though I had not mentioned it to him,’ Peter recalled. ‘The blessing is usually on the head.’
Special moment: Even though Peter (second right) ended up missing most of his senior year of high school, he made it to his prom and was voted homecoming king
In February 2013, less than a year after the fateful encounter, Pope Benedict resigned due to his declining health and was replaced by Pope Francis I.
These days,. Peter Srsich says he feels ‘wonderful.' He currently attends Regis University, a Jesuit college in Denver. His goal is to be ordained as a priest in about eight years.
With his cancer on the ropes, the 19-year-old is also back to playing lacrosse and practicing taekwondo.
In February 2013, less than a year after the fateful encounter, Pope Benedict resigned due to his declining health and was replaced by Pope Francis I.
These days,. Peter Srsich says he feels ‘wonderful.' He currently attends Regis University, a Jesuit college in Denver. His goal is to be ordained as a priest in about eight years.
With his cancer on the ropes, the 19-year-old is also back to playing lacrosse and practicing taekwondo.
Although some Christian groups have latched on to Peter's recovery story, proclaiming it a miracle, Srsich does not see it quite that way.
‘Chemo helped me fight the cancer. Make-A-Wish helped me fight the chemo,’ he told ABC. ‘Knowing the pope was in my future helped me get through that, and in a small, non-miraculous way, helped cure my cancer.’
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