Eagle Mountain boy leaves behind legacy of caring, service
Wyatt Page works on the comfort bundles to give to other children with cancer, working on them in the weeks before passing away in January 2020.
Doug, Wyatt and Emily Page drop off hundreds of bundles at hospitals that had treated Wyatt before he passed away.
Wyatt Page sits among some of the comfort bundles that were donated to young cancer patients. Wyatt passed away in January 2020.
People in an Eagle Mountain neighborhood put together and donated 270 bundles and dropped them off earlier this month, enjoying luminarias and a drive-through live Nativity.
Last year, at Christmastime, then-12-year-old Wyatt Page of Eagle Mountain knew that he would soon be passing away.
However, rather than focusing on his own trials, Wyatt was busy worrying about how his parents would spend their time after he was gone and trying to make a difference in the lives of other children like him — children battling cancer.
Wyatt passed away on Jan. 14, 2020, after battling ependymoma brain cancer. Twenty-two months before that, a tennis ball-sized tumor was found in his brain. During those 22 months, Wyatt underwent five surgeries and 96 radiation treatments.
In September 2019, it was discovered that Wyatt’s cancer had metastasized.
“At that point, we were wanting to give back to other kids who were going through similar at Primary Children’s Hospital,” said Emily Page, Wyatt’s mother.
That’s when the idea came to put together comfort bundles to give to other children.
“Wyatt wanted to bring a distraction and comfort to other kids going through cancer,” Emily Page said. “That’s what we loved seeing. It brightens people’s day, to take their minds off what they’re going through, even for a minute.”
The comfort bundles include a blanket, pillowcase, a beanie hat and a toy. Initially, the Page family made 10 bundles and delivered them to five boys and five girls at Primary Children’s Hospital.
“He knew that we would continue moving forward putting these bundles together,” Emily Page said. “He came up with the name Wyatt’s Comfort Bundles.”
Throughout Wyatt’s journey, he received items such as the ones in the bundles at different hospitals. He was offered a blanket during his first visit to the emergency room.
After a surgery, a pillowcase was waiting in his room.
“They always had toys for him,” Emily Page said. “They had beanies out in baskets. Those were items that were given to him along the way. That’s how we remember some of those items, from certain events and treatments.”
In October 2019, it was discovered that Wyatt’s cancer was terminal, but he was still undergoing radiation treatments. A neighbor decided to put together as many comfort bundles as radiation treatments Wyatt had — 73.
“She called it Project 73,” Emily Page said. “Then, we found out he had to have more, so she called it 73 plus.”
In December 2019, Wyatt and his parents delivered dozens of comfort bundles to Primary Children’s Hospital and to the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
“In the end, he helped us deliver 106 (bundles) before he passed away,” Emily Page said. “We told him that we were going to carry on this tradition.”
That is just what Emily and Doug Page have done.
“He was worried about what we would do with our time after he was gone,” Emily Page said. “We told him we would be doing this.”
In fact, earlier this month, the family’s neighborhood and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ward worked on bundles for the cause.
“They were able to donate 270 bundles that night, which was amazing,” Emily Page said.
The night also included a drive-through event with luminarias, a live Nativity and bundle drop-offs.
Since those first ten bundles that Wyatt helped put together, hundreds more have been put together and donated — totaling 1,740 bundles. These have gone to various hospitals, including two in Seattle, Washington, where Wyatt was treated.
According to Doug Page, Wyatt was honored by the Brigham Young University football team as a True Blue Hero before he passed away. He was also able to meet Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz as well as the entire team, something he wished for with the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
“When he passed away, the Jazz did a big tribute to him,” Doug Page said. “Donovan dedicated that night’s game to him, and they ended up winning.”
Wyatt’s Comfort Bundles will continue Wyatt’s legacy and his desire to help other children, like himself.
“It is astonishing to me that he could think of others so much during his last two months,” Doug Page said. “He was definitely wise beyond his years.”
More information about the organization is available on the “Wyatt’s Comfort Bundles” Facebook page. Donations can be made through Venmo at “@wyattscomfortbundles.”
“Wyatt was a fighter,” Emily Page said. “He never let anything get to him. He didn’t want cancer to define who he was. He was a happy-go-lucky kid. His main focus was on others and he wanted to bring comfort to other kids.”
“We will do this as long as we can,” Doug Page said.
