Jack Flanigan, 10, sat down with Divna Wheelwright, a Child Life Specialist at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital in New York City, to record this Legacy interview about the ups and downs of being a classical ballet dancer and his aspirations in life.
Note: This interview has not been fact-checked, and may contain sensitive personal information about living persons.
Jack Flanigan (JF) and Divna Wheelwright (DW)
DW: So, Jack, I would love it if you could tell me about one of your happiest moments.
JF: Probably when I got promoted to level three. So, I’m a ballet dancer. I dance…four days a week? I’m supposed to be dancing four days a week. With chemo, now it’s three.
DW: How do you feel when you dance?
JF: It’s really my passion. It’s fun. It’s tiring. I hope to become a professional ballet dancer. Yeah.
DW: Wow. So on the flip side, can you tell me about one of your saddest moments? JF: How about when I got held back from level three? I remember it was an awful rainy day and there’s this great ballet master at my school, Joseph, and he said “Okay, so we need to talk.” So we had to go into the faculty lounge, and I was sitting on this horribly saggy couch. When he came in, he just said, “We think you need more time to kind of solidify and get your basics down, and just really, to feel it.” And so I was kind of in shock, I was like, “Wait, what? You’re holding me back? I have to do all of this work again? You’re kidding me, right? Okay.” I was holding back tears, and I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, so I kept putting my eyes to the package of ‘Sugar in the Raw’ sitting above the refrigerator. And you know, I repeated level two.
DW: And looking back, do you see any value in you going back and having to do it again?
JF: Definitely, oh yeah! Because level threes spend about 12 hours in the studio every week, and Dad has said to me a few times in the last year, “Jack, I think if you had been promoted you would have been totally miserable and I think it’s really good that you only have to come three days a week this year, you know. Four days can wait, don’t worry, it’s gonna happen for a long time.”
DW: Do you believe that everything happens for a reason?
JF: Yeah…I guess so!
DW: Have you had examples in your life where that seemed true?
JF: Hmm, not that I can think of off the top of my head.
DW: Okay.
JF: Sorry, now I’m crying for some reason.
DW: Aw, that’s okay.
JF: No, no, no – it’s the medicine. Sometimes during ballet, I’ll be, like, doing an exercise at the bar and all of sudden just start crying, and it’s the funniest thing because I feel perfectly fine, but, like, I’m bawling, like I found out somebody has just died or something, you know? Like I’m doing right now.
DW: Your body is doing something else, right?
JF: Yeah! Yeah.
DW: Alright, well you let me know if we need to take a break, okay?
JF: It’s okay.
DW: So, when you think of yourself as an adult, what would you have liked to have accomplished?
JF: You know, I would really, really like to go into medicine.
DW: Any particular role in medicine?
JF: Pediatrics, I would like. I mean it would be fun to see kids, and help them. Or Oncology.
DW: Yeah? JF: Because I think that area has a lot of discoveries to be made… yeah!
DW: What advice would you give to somebody who found themselves in the hospital for the first time?
JF: Don’t worry, it’s going to be okay. Nobody’s there to hurt you, they’re all there to help you. You know, you can say no to something – nothing is forced.
DW: So true.
JF: Chances are they’re going to be able find a cure, if not, it’s treatable. It’s going to be okay, you’re chances of life are pretty good.
DW: Takes people a long time to realize those things, what you just said. I for one hope you have the opportunity to teach people that because that’s so valuable.
JF: Maybe, maybe you will.
DW: Fingers crossed?
JF: Definitely.
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