After a two-year battle with cancer, 5-year-old Xavier Bennett of Akron, affectionately known as “Superman” for his fighting spirit, died Monday.
Xavier was born Jan. 2, 2011, to Raven Huron and Justen Bennett Sr.
He was diagnosed in 2013 with neuroblastoma, a cancer that develops from immature nerve cells found in the body. On Xavier’s GoForward page, a website to donate money to the family, Huron said her son went through eight rounds of chemotherapy.
“Xavier responded very well to his treatments and we watched him grow from our baby Xavier to our ‘Superman’ Big Boy,” Huron wrote on the page.
Through his treatments, Xavier attended kindergarten at Ritzman Community Learning Center in Akron, where Huron said he “made friends and enjoyed learning new things.”
“Xavier warmed our hearts at Ritzman,” said fifth-grade teacher Laurie Thompson in a comment on Xavier’s obituary page.
Xavier got to run the bases in a superhero cape at a RubberDucks game during the Showers Family Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders Celebration.
“It was a really special night in August and he had a real spirit and smile that just lit up the stadium,” said Adam Liberman, the RubberDucks’ director of public and media relations.
Xavier is survived by his parents and brothers, Roman Huron, Justen Bennett Jr. and Noah Bennett, along with his grandmothers Rebekah Huron and Luwanda Davis-Rice and grandfather, Terry Ramsey.
“He was a phenomenal little boy. When we would be there crying, he would tell us to stop crying. He would say, ‘I’m Superman,’ ” Davis-Rice said. “Through all of his struggles, he never showed any signs of being sad.”
There will be a celebration-of-life service at noon Friday at Calvary Baptist Church, 820 White Pond Drive, Akron.
Interment will be at Greenlawn Cemetery, 2580 Romig Road, Akron.