BIRMINGHAM, Mich. (WXYZ) — Love. Fight. Win. Live. These are the steps high school junior AJ Camisa and his mom Robyn Campagne live by during Campagne’s battle with cancer.
Camisa’s campaign, Team Robyn, formed for the first time when Campagne was diagnosed with bladder cancer.
“I just put myself in my room and was by myself and just thinking through my head. What can I do to help and make an impact through this because its hard on me, but it must be so much harder on my mom,” Camisa said.
This is when his idea struck for a T-shirt campaign.
“It clicked in my head ‘Robyn the Superhero’ my mom is going to be a superhero when she’s going through this fight,” Camisa said.
While Campagne continued to be a superhero through her first, when her cancer was diagnosed as metastatic, she struggled with the idea of it.
“It somewhat defines you and becomes just a part of your lifestyle that you just continuously will have scans and doctors appointments. Sometimes the news will be good and sometimes the news is not good. It’s just preparing yourself for all of the inevitabilities,” Campange said.
Even through the darkest times, Campagne and Camisa always stayed in the light.
“You don’t give up. The whole world can fall apart and you’ve just gotta keep trying. If you give up, you let the darkness win,” Camisa said.
Camisa and Campagne's bond continues to grow stronger through the continuous support of the community around them.
“The support of, specifically, the Groves community was really overwhelming. This was a time for AJ when he stepped into a new community, with the theater program. Just as he got into this community this happened. That whole community just embraced him and created a family for him. And really gave him something to take his mind off of what was happening in our family. And it gave him something to look forward to,” Campagne said.
In that moment, Camisa knew that it was time to give back to do something for somebody else too. Camisa extended his campaign to others in need, giving 10% of the earnings to the American Cancer Society. He has already raised over $1,700 just through his T-shirt and GoFundMe page. This February, Camisa is starting a Cans 4 Cancer drive to raise money for cancer research.
To get involved before then, donate through their GoFundMe page or purchase Team Robyn T-shirts.
