Meet Pedro. He’s eight years old.
When he was just six, on the night before his brother’s birthday, Pedro ended up in the ER with sudden, unexplained pain in his knee. The pain was intense, and morphine barely touched it. Within days, his family got the devastating news: Pedro had a grapefruit-sized tumor in his leg. It was Ewing’s Sarcoma.
Ewing’s Sarcoma is a rare and aggressive bone cancer, mostly found in children. Only about 200 kids in the U.S. are diagnosed with it each year. The treatment is grueling. Pedro went through 14 rounds of harsh chemotherapy. And then came surgery — eight inches of his femur removed and replaced with an internal prosthetic that runs into his tibia.
Today, Pedro is one year out of treatment and has what the doctors call “No Evidence of Disease.”
Ask his parents what the biggest challenge is now, and they’ll say it’s mobility. Pedro can’t run or jump. He walks with a limp and can’t ride a bike like other kids his age.
But if you ask Pedro?
He’ll grin and say, “Who needs to run when you can RACE?”
Born to Drive
Pedro has always dreamed of being a race car driver. Even when he was just two years old, he didn’t say his tummy hurt, he’d say, “My engine hurts.” Cars have always been his language.
Through every hospital stay, every painful procedure, every setback, that dream stayed alive. And after surgery, when the promise of racing someday was placed in front of him—it gave him something to fight for.
With the help of a childhood cancer foundation, Pedro’s dream came true. He unwrapped his very first go-kart on Christmas morning. Just a year before, he had been hooked up to IVs and medications. Now, he was hopping down the stairs with excitement, ripping open the wrapping paper, and seeing his dream sitting in front of him.
As soon as the snow melted and he got the green light from his doctors, Pedro hit the track.
He didn’t ease into it either, he went full throttle.
A New Kind of Champion
This past season, Pedro joined the Colorado State Karting Tour. He didn’t have the same training time as the other kids, but that didn’t stop him from giving it everything he had.
Watching Pedro at the track is something special. You see him limp his way over to his kart. Carefully, he lifts his stiff leg, guides it into place, and positions it on the pedal. His face? Pure joy. A big, unstoppable smile every single time.
And when he wins, it’s not just a trophy. It’s proof.
Proof that cancer didn’t steal his dream.
Proof that his limb difference doesn’t define what’s possible.
Proof that he decides his story, not his diagnosis.
Stronger Than You Think
Not every moment has been easy. At school, Pedro dealt with bullying—kids pushing him down, kicking away his walking aids. As a parent, it’s heartbreaking. You wonder how to protect your child, how to help them see their own worth.
But Pedro? He didn’t need anyone to teach him resilience. He was resilience.
Through racing, he found strength. He found purpose. He discovered that when you truly love something, it fuels you, even on the hardest days.
He already dreams of standing on the podium, not just holding a trophy, but sharing a message of hope with other kids facing their own battles.
Pedro knows who he is. Always has. In his mind, he’s never stopped being a race car driver. Cancer? That was just a detour.
Eyes on the Road Ahead
So what’s next for Pedro?
Well, aside from the hard work of re-learning how to walk properly, he’s setting his sights on competing in the next big championship. He wants to follow in the footsteps of his heroes—Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel.
He’s even working on a pitch to attract sponsors. Because for Pedro, the impossible isn’t really impossible. He’s already beaten the odds once.
And that’s the message he wants the world to hear:
You don’t have to be able to run to chase your dreams. You just need the courage to go full speed ahead.
