Tyler Butler-Figueroa has cancer and is tormented at school because of it. But after a performance stop at “America’s Got Talent” on Tuesday night, the 11-year-old violinist from North Carolina has won the prize – from judge Simon Cowell, nothing more.
“I want to say something to the bullies on your behalf,” the famously critical British judge said, before hitting the Golden Buzzer – which automatically took Tyler straight to the live shows.
“I feel proud,” Tyler said, with tears streaming down his face and the theater at their feet, amid a trellis of golden confetti.
“We were going out to dinner one day and I thought, ‘There’s something wrong with Tyler,’” his mother recounted. “He looks a little pale. So a mother’s instinct said, let me take him to the ER.” A blood test confirmed her son had blood cancer. “It was the worst day of my life.”
Tyler was treated with chemotherapy, which caused him to lose all of his hair. “I am very sad and embarrassed,” he said. “[The bullies] will spread rumors that my cancer is contagious and they all want to stay away from me.”
But a miracle happened when Tyler was 7 years old: he discovered the violin. There was a flyer about after-school lessons, and Tyler begged his mother if he could do it.
“When I play the violin, it makes me forget all the bad things,” said Tyler, who performed on the streets of downtown Raleigh to raise money for a plane ticket for his audition. “I didn’t want to be just the Kid with Cancer – so now I’m the Kid Who Plays the Violin.”
