Each month, the New York Islanders and Northwell Health are spotlighting two strong and inspiring children battling cancer in continuous support of pediatric cancer patients all season long.
Playing multiple sports, riding bikes around the neighborhood and hanging out with friends were Cameron Stearns’ favorite activities as a typical 12-year-old boy, according to his father, Mark Stearns.
Normalcy wasn’t the case for Cameron’s day-to-day life between February 2025 and January 2026. A growing lump on his inner thigh was removed and diagnosed as Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the early months of 2025. Even with a 50-50 chance of remission, it unfortunately returned, meaning another surgery followed by three rounds of chemotherapy for Cameron.
“It’s devastating and very emotional,” Mark said. “But his hematologist-oncologist is wonderful. She assured us that everything was going to be okay [and] it’s a very curable kind of cancer. We just had to go through the motions.”
Though the Stearns were directed to not be alarmed, as parents there is little you can do but worry when you see your child in a dangerous situation. However, the cancer returning was only a setback to Cameron’s comeback.
Cameron, a life-long Islanders fan, finished his first round of chemotherapy just in time for the Isles’ Hockey Fights Cancer Night, presented by Northwell, when the Isles played the Louis Blues in November 2025.
“It was great timing because that game really uplifted his spirits,” Mark said. “[Cameron] was treated like a rockstar by the Islanders organization. He got to meet and walk through the tunnel with Kyle Palmieri and connected with an older boy that had a story and went through something similar.”
