Tony Nata was an amazing kid.

Born into a family with strong Louisiana roots, Tony lived for the water, fishing, and his family. He loved chasing his sister Ali around the deck of their house in his monster truck, playing with his cousin and best friend, Jesse, building Legos with Caleb, and crawling into the crib alongside his beloved Makalya. He adored his grandparents, his aunts and uncles, and all his cousins including Hunter, Emma, Chelsea, Chastity, Christin, and Cole. Tony loved his dogs, Sunny and Storm. He also loved playing with his WWE action heroes and his toy sharks.

But most of all, Tony loved fishing.

Tony's happiest moments were hauling in a big speckled trout or redfish with his Mom & Dad, Robin & Bubba, or just throwing a line in the water off the dock surrounding his house. He was so proud of the speckled trout trophies he won at various fishing rodeos around Southeastern Louisiana.

Tony was a quiet kid. A shy kid. But Tony also proved to be larger than life.

First diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) at age 4, Tony courageously battled Leukemia through numerous rounds of chemotherapy and a bone-marrow transplant. After four years of battling Leukemia with everything he had in him, Tony passed away on June 19, 2007- about 1 month after his 8th birthday, in his home on the water, surrounded by his family.

But while Tony's life was short in years, he changed the lives of so many people and touched the hearts of literally millions of people around the world with his amazing story.

Tony showed such an incredible will to live. Tony's spirit, along with the love and dedication his parents and sister exhibited throughout their fight, inspired hundreds of people from across the United States to help rebuild the Nata family home in Slidell, Louisiana after it was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina. In an extraordinary effort led by New York City firefighters, the volunteers first rebuilt Tony's beloved fishing dock. Then they helped rebuild the family home. Afterwards, they helped build a "clean-room" addition onto the home for Tony to live in following his bone-marrow transplant in April 2006.

That was our first "Tony's Room". That spirit of caring and love for our fellow neighbors will continue to live on in Tony's Room Foundation.