Big day! Criss Angel celebrated his 7-year-old son Johnny’s remission after his 2019 cancer diagnosis.
“This is the most important post I have ever made,” the magician, 54, wrote in a joint statement with his wife, Shaunyl Benson, on Monday, January 17. “TODAY OUR SON JOHNNY CRISSTOPHER WILL FINALLY RING THE BELL SYMBOLIZING HIS REMISSION AND THE END OF HIS TREATMENT!”
The social media upload came one day after the Aussie, 30, marked the end of her son’s immune therapy.
“Tomorrow is the big day,” the actress told her Instagram followers on Sunday, January 16. “Johnny Crisstopher will FINALLY ring the bell after 6 long years. What a journey it has been, this nightmare we have lived twice since 2015.”
Benson called Johnny’s “last cycles … tough,” noting that she gave birth to daughter Illusia, now 2 months, during his three months of treatment.
“We have an amazing support system and I’m so so grateful for my parents and their selflessness. Family is everything, especially during the hard times,” the Jane star, who is also the mother of son Xristos, 2, concluded. “We are so proud of you my Johnny boy. This is ALL YOU. This chapter of your life will finally be behind you and I’m so excited for your future. I can’t wait to finally see you ring that bell my love. Ring it hard because the whole world is proud of you!”
Angel announced in December 2019 that Johnny had relapsed after battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia four years prior.
“He got diagnosed with pediatric cancer before he was 2 years old, he’s been in treatment for over three years, he’s been in remission, but unfortunately he had a relapse and he’s going back into the hospital on Monday,” the former Angeldust frontman told TMZ at the time.
The Mindfreak author spoke exclusively to Us Weekly in 2016 about being an “optimistic” parent, explaining, “You always have to be positive. You always have to be focused on the good things. Life can throw challenges at you at any time and you never know what’s gonna happen and that’s what is life. It’s that you have to be positive and accept it as a journey, that it’s gonna have peaks and balance and that you’re always gonna persevere.”