CHICAGO — A South Side teenager battling cancer got a special surprise from his favorite baseball team.
That teenager, 14-year-old CJ Stewart, saw his redesigned bedroom for the first time Monday afternoon. Stewart’s bedroom is now decked out in White Sox gear to match his fandom for the team.
“The charity came out of nowhere and said we are going to do this,” Stewart’s aunt told WGN News. “In my wildest dreams, I couldn’t have expected this.”
Stewart’s new room features plenty of White Sox-themed décor, including a new bed, dresser, TV and display area for his favorite sports collections, along with a framed and autographed Andrew Vaughn jersey.
“This is not at all what I expected,” Stewart said. “Its probably the best room in the house.”
The White Sox first baseman and his wife Lexi, with the support of Special Spaces, were the architects behind the dream bedroom makeover for a young man who’s been through an awful lot.
Last November, Stewart lost his dad and this February, he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer known as Germinoma.
Germinoma is a rare, malignant tumor that originates in germ cells, which are the cells that develop into sperm or eggs. They occur when germ cells don’t migrate to the reproductive organs during fetal development and instead become trapped in the brain and multiply.
After four rounds of chemotherapy though, Stewart is in remission and fully moved in with his aunt in the city’s Bronzeville neighborhood.
“I can’t say thank you enough,” Stewart’s aunt said. “Thank you doesn’t even do justice to the gratitude.”
Special Spaces is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating dream bedrooms for children with cancer. Established in 2004 in Knoxville, Tennessee, Special Spaces operates 10 chapters across nine states and has transformed over 1,700 bedrooms for children nationwide.
For more information on Special Spaces, visit their website: https://specialspaces.org/