Urbandale 7th grader pays it forward after battling brain cancer
Blake Bonta came to Stead Family Children’s Hospital after his local hospital discovered a mass in the back of his brain
Blake Bonta and his father share an unfortunate connection: both were diagnosed with brain tumors as kids. Now, father and son are healthy and excited for Blake to be the 10th Kid Captain of the 2025 Hawkeyes football season.
After a local hospital detected a mass in his brain, Blake was transferred to University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital, where he was diagnosed with metastatic grade 4 medulloblastoma, an aggressive cancer that had spread from his brain to his spinal cord.
“He had been healthy his entire life. He was always the tallest, biggest, heaviest kid up until he was diagnosed,” his dad, Justin Bonta, says. “In the fall of 2022, we noticed a giant change in him.”
Blake’s usual routine of waking up early to enjoy the morning and head to school completely changed. He began struggling to get out of bed and would often throw up at school, forcing him to come home.
“He used to love to go to school,” Justin Bonta says, noting that Blake was active in football and basketball and had numerous friends. “He was the class clown. There’s always one, and that was him.”
His parents eventually started home-schooling their son, and local doctors attributed his issues to anxiety.
Turning point at birthday party
In January 2023, Blake had a swimming party to celebrate his 10th birthday, but left his friends, holding his head in pain from a severe headache.
He eventually returned to the pool, but just days later, Blake had difficulty walking when he woke up. He was unsteady on his feet and couldn’t stand without help.
Blake was taken to a local hospital, where scans showed excess fluid and a mass in the back of his brain.
“Nothing like a brain tumor crossed our minds,” Justin Bonta says.
Blake was transferred to Stead Family Children’s Hospital, with his mother, Johnna Bonta, riding in the ambulance, and his father meeting them at the hospital.
“I saw Blake for 15 minutes before he headed to have his first surgery to have fluid removed from his brain,” Justin Bonta says, adding that their son was using a breathing machine when they finally saw him early the next morning.
Coincidentally, Blake’s father had a brain tumor when he was 6 years old, which baffled doctors, as Blake’s condition is not hereditary. His father’s tumor was not cancerous, but Blake was diagnosed with metastatic medulloblastoma, a malignant central nervous system cancer.
Cancer treatment begins
A doctor showed the couple the MRI results, pointing out spots where the cancer had spread to Blake’s spinal cord.
“I literally fell to my knees when they said that,” Justin Bonta says. “The word ‘cancer’ hits home when you’re not expecting it. It crushed my soul.”
Blake underwent two additional surgeries within 10 days of the initial procedure — including a 12-hour surgery to remove the tumor, and another surgery a week later to place a shunt to drain the excess fluid.
He underwent radiation, followed by chemotherapy. Blake’s entire family, including the family dog, moved into a hotel in Iowa City for more than a month while he underwent treatment.
“We would go home some weekends, but most of the time we lived in that tiny hotel room,” his father says.
Blake stopped eating and drinking, lost weight, and became dehydrated. He began using a feeding tube, which his dad called “a godsend.”
Blake had to relearn to walk, but his attitude “was phenomenal,” Justin Bonta says. “He has a huge support system back home that helped him through it all.”
The ‘Blake Wave’
At one point during his hospitalization, about 60 people from Urbandale made the trip to Iowa City to wave to Blake’s hospital window, inspired by the iconic “Hawkeye Wave” where 70,000 football fans in Kinnick Stadium turn to wave to the children’s hospital.
“It was called the ‘Blake Wave,’” Justin Bonta says. “They had signs, they cheered, and we were able to wheel him to the window. He did a heart sign to all the people who were waving and cheering for him.”
Blake finished six months of chemotherapy, and scan results were more positive than what was seen after radiation.
“There was remarkable shrinkage from his last scan,” Justin Bonta says. “This was just the news we needed to hear. It gave us hope to finish out his treatment plan.”
The end of most children’s chemotherapy includes ringing a bell in the children’s hospital. Blake was able to ring the bell, and play with his favorite hospital facility dog, Nacho, in September 2023. Since then, scans have shown no regrowth of the cancer.
Blake pays it forward
During his treatment, Blake decided he wanted to give back to Stead Family Children’s Hospital and has held three fundraisers since then.
“His thought is if he can raise money for brain tumor research, then more kids can stay at home and not have to spend as much time at the hospital,” his dad says, noting that Blake has been to the hospital more than 100 times.
Blake has now raised more than $100,000 for pediatric cancer research. One of his earliest fundraisers featured an autographed basketball from then Hawkeye basketball star Caitlin Clark, who had gotten to know Blake when he was hospitalized.
During his hospital stays, Blake came to know Hawkeye football players such as Steven Stilianos — who now plays for the Detroit Lions — Luke Lachey, and Xavier Nwankpa, who became his friends.
Now 12 and in seventh grade, the Urbandale boy misses playing sports, but enjoys video games and Legos, and loves talking about cars.
Blake remains in physical therapy to regain his coordination, and his care team continues to monitor his health.
“The care team, from support staff to nurses to doctors to surgeons, has been just incredible,” his dad says. “They’re so welcoming, so helpful. They truly go out of their way to make the experience, as awful as it is, the best that they possibly can.”
Photos from Kids Day 2025
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