Bears surprise 13-year-old in remission from rare bone cancer

Courtesy of Advocate Children’s Hospital

Last November, Andrew Bisaga was like most 12-year-old kids. He was energetic, active and loved playing sports.

After finishing his soccer season, Bisaga was in the middle of his football season when a nagging pain in his leg wouldn’t subside. His parents initially thought he suffered an injury playing football, but that ultimately wasn’t the case.

Bisaga was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer called osteosarcoma.

While the Bisagas live in St. John, Indiana, he underwent chemotherapy treatment at Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn.

After eight trying months, Bisaga finished all his rounds of chemotherapy in July and is in remission.

Bisaga’s love for the Bears and sports kept him distracted throughout his battle.

So earlier this week, the Bears brought some holiday cheer to Bisaga, who is now 13, and his two younger brothers, Ethan and Max.

When a limo arrived outside the Bisagas’ home in Indiana on Monday, no one — except for their mother — knew where they were headed.

Andrew was speechless when the family arrived at Halas Hall. The Bisagas were greeted by linebacker Sam Acho, Bears Monster Squad, drumline and Staley da Bear.

From there, they met quarterbacks Mitch Trubisky and Chase Daniel along with running back Jordan Howard and went on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Bears’ practice facility.

While checking out the Bears broadcast studio, coach Matt Nagy made an unexpected visit. Meeting Nagy was especially exciting for Andrew as he hopes to one day go into coaching since his battle with cancer has made him unable to play contact sports.

At the end of the tour, the Bisagas enjoyed a holiday lunch with wide receivers Anthony Miller and Taylor Gabriel. Andrew and his brothers also received several gifts, including tickets to Sunday’s potential playoff-clinching game against the Packers and autographed jerseys.