Local student says “Thank You for the Music” after overcoming illness

WHEELING, W.Va. (WTRF) – From the time Sydney Willson was young, she knew she wanted to be on stage after seeing her first production.

”Ever since then, I knew that that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” said Sydney. “So here I am, making it happen, hopefully.”

Like many little girls, Sydney was a dancer and started theater when she was six, but unlike many little girls, she was diagnosed at 18 months old with terminal Ewing’s Sarcoma on her thyroid.

”They told my mom that it was going to be hard and that I probably wasn’t going to make it.”

It is extremely rare – So much so that she underwent an experimental treatment, filled with radiation, chemo, a tracheostomy, and surgeries to remove her thyroid.

Her family was told she may not live, let alone speak.

”They said that if I made it to five years old, then the experiment would be a success,” she recalled. “Here I am, I’m turning 16 in a few months.”

Sydney defied the odds and is now a successful sophomore at Wheeling Park High School and was cast in a principal role in the school musical, Mamma Mia.

Doctors may have said she might not speak, but they surely didn’t say she couldn’t sing.

”Now, singing is one of my favorite things to do,” Sydney said. “There is nothing like just being on that stage and everyone gets so nervous. But the best thing to do is just to start singing and just to start doing what you’re doing. Because then that’s when all the magic happens.”

She started dance as a form of physical therapy following her diagnosis and received special training to learn to sing safely, both of which have helped her today.

”Mamma Mia is such a big show because it’s a jukebox musical. So, like there’s not a lot of just the lines and dialog. It’s all singing and dancing, and that can take a toll on anyone. But and it’s really taught me endurance, you know, and just perseverance.”

Sydney hopes to pursue a career in musical theater after high school, and her drive to do so comes full circle.

”Not only do I want to be paid to do the thing that I love most, I want to inspire others to do it, too. I want to be the person where the next little girl sees on stage and is like, I want to do that for the rest of my life.”

Sydney Willson – “Lisa,” Wheeling Park High School Sophomore

Sydney truly says, “thank you for the music.”

If you didn’t have the chance to go Friday, you can catch Sydney and the rest of the cast from Wheeling Park on Saturday at 7pm, and Sunday at 3pm.

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