<\/p>\n
Eight-year-old Royce Dinkins holds the dreadlocks he lost from chemotherapy.<\/p>\n
Joryal Hudson<\/p>\n
Eight-year-old Royce Dinkins spent six long weeks at the hospital recovering from a bone marrow transplant and months of chemotherapy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Fort Worth<\/a> second-grader missed celebrating his sister\u2019s third birthday, playing basketball with his brother and going on his first school field trip to the zoo.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n When he could finally check out of Cook Children\u2019s Hospital <\/a>in Fort Worth last month, Royce knew he wanted to go big. Like, really big. He decided to dance his way out.\u00a0<\/p>\n A 45-second clip shows Royce grooving down the hospital hallway to ring the bell, a ritual for patients to mark the end of cancer treatments, as hospital staff cheered and tossed confetti. Royce even threw in a surprise cartwheel.<\/p>\n Related: Inside a Dallas workshop, volunteers help rebuild Hill Country summer camp<\/a><\/p>\n Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHe wanted to give his nurses a heart attack,\u201d joked his mother, Joryal Hudson.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The video has been viewed tens of thousands of times on social media and even captured the attention of Good Morning America<\/a>, who shared Royce\u2019s story.<\/p>\n Royce was diagnosed with leukemia in July 2025, after complaining that he was getting tired while playing. The family had recently moved to Fort Worth from California, and his parents thought he was just struggling to adapt to the Texas heat<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Royce insisted something was wrong and told his mom he needed to see a doctor. Not long after, doctors at Cook Children\u2019s told him he had acute lymphoblastic leukemia<\/a>, type B. Royce immediately began chemotherapy and soon lost the long dreadlocks he had been so proud of. This February, he received bone marrow from his father.\u00a0<\/p>\n Royce Dinkins poses with his parents and siblings at Cook Children’s in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n Joryal Hudson<\/p>\n The treatments took their toll, and Royce had to work with a physical therapist twice a week to relearn how to walk and even begin to eat on his own.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n At some point during recovery, Royce decided he wanted to dance when the hospital finally released him. He picked his favorite song, Boo by Louisiana rapper H3adband, which became a breakout hit after going viral on TikTok<\/a> and sparking a dance challenge.<\/p>\n Related: Albino bluebonnets: Rare wildflower spotted in Texas is wowing visitors<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cA day does not go by that we don\u2019t hear that song at least 20 times,\u201d his mom said.<\/p>\n Staff at Cook Children\u2019s<\/a> even joined him in dance practice, stopping by his room to learn the moves and lyrics.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cHe had everyone dancing,\u201d Hudson said. \u201cThe nurses loved him.\u201d<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n As his hospital stay neared the end, his mom wondered if Royce would go through with the dance. He\u2019s usually pretty shy, she said. He was adamant, though.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775016909_917_rawImage.jpg\" "\\"#\\"")
<\/p>\n