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What happened to

The boy who filmed his battle with cancer

By Lane DeGregory
Published April 8, 2007

"Through a lens, bravely"; May 22, 2005; links.tampabay.com

FROM THE STORY: Dylan Crane wanted to change the world. He started telling his mom that when he was 3 years old.

So when he was diagnosed with bone cancer at age 12, he brought his video camera with him to the hospital. He wanted to film what was happening to him, so other kids would know what it was like. So if it happened to them, maybe they wouldn't be so scared.

In the nine months he was in and out of All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Dylan filmed himself interviewing doctors, receiving chemo, having his stem cells removed. While he was being wheeled into surgery to have his left thighbone removed, he kept the camera rolling on his face: stretcher cam.

"As his gurney banged open the double doors of the operating room, the 12-year-old director chose a tighter shot. He focused on his left cheek, on that silver drop just below his eye. Close-up on the tear."

THE REST OF THE STORY: A month after that surgery, Dylan turned 13. Doctors let him go home to have cake with his friends. The next day, he learned that his documentary, My Cancer Miracle, had earned first place in the county's middle school media awards.

Two days later, Dylan was back in the hospital with a high fever. The chemo that was supposed to kill the cancer was making his liver shut down. Doctors put him under heavy sedation. Machines fed him, helped him breathe. One night, writhing in his sleep, Dylan cried out, "I don't want to play anymore."

He died June 8, 2005, without knowing that his film had taken first place in the state's student media awards.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT: Dylan's documentary became part of a project for a television crew from WTSP-Ch. 10. In December, it won two regional Emmys from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Both of Dylan's schools created memorials to him. There's a butterfly garden at Perkins Elementary; a mobile of origami cranes at John Hopkins Middle School. Perkins also offers a Dylan Crane Memorial Scholarship.

Dylan's Web site, which includes his video, has received more than 8,000 hits from more than 50 countries. A Colorado boy saw it, and decided to shave his head to raise money for kids with cancer. A St. Petersburg man did the same thing last week.

His mom, Carole, says, "He's continuing to reach out and touch people's lives."

Dylan would have turned 15 last week.

To see his video, go to www.dylancrane.com.

[Last modified April 7, 2007, 16:25:41]