Criss Angel/Youtube
Magician Criss Angel’s 7-year-old son Johnny Crisstopher has entered remission after more than five years since his cancer diagnosis.
The illusionist — who shares Johnny with Shaunyl Benson — shared the news on Instagram writing, “TODAY OUR SON JOHNNY CRISSTOPHER WILL FINALLY RING THE BELL SYMBOLIZING HIS REMISSION AND THE END OF HIS TREATMENT! 🎉”
Johnny was first diagnosed with leukemia in 2015 and had a brief remission before his dad revealed in December 2019 that his child’s cancer had come back.
In honor of the latest milestone, Angel, 54, shared a video documenting Johnny’s entire battle with cancer, calling it “the most important post I have ever made.” The nearly 14-minute long short film is titled “1095” — representing the 1,095 chemotherapy sessions needed to treat his son’s type of B-Cell A.L.L. Leukemia.
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In the clip, Angel shares footage from numerous doctor’s visits as well as emotional discussions between Angel and Benson — who are also parents to son Xristos Yanni, 2, and daughter Illusia Angelina, 2 months — about Johnny. The magician urged his followers to share the video in hopes of raising awareness and money for other kids with cancer.
“One child every two minutes is diagnosed with cancer,” he said in the video. “Cancer doesn’t discriminate… so I want to try and be a voice for these kids and I want to try to help these families that are going through the toughest time of their life and let them know that they’re not alone.”
Angel added that he hopes to raise “hundreds of millions of dollars” toward pediatric cancer because he’d “rather be remembered for the work that I did with kids than the work that I did as a magician.”
Criss Angel/Youtube
In 2016, Angel opened up to PEOPLE about the moment he learned Johnny had been diagnosed with cancer, saying he felt “helpless.” He also shared that it was difficult watching his son experience the side effects of cancer treatments, which included hair loss and behavioral changes.
“Johnny is a happy, fun, loving boy, but the steroid treatments have a profound effect on his mood,” he explained. Johnny began throwing “violent” tantrums. “That’s hard to see, but that’s not our Johnny. That’s the steroids,” Angel said.
“My son is supposed to outlive me. I’d rather it be me that was sick,” Angel added at the time. “I want Johnny’s future to be long and happy. That kid is just a bundle of love. He’s the truest form of magic.”
