3-year-old Trucker Dukes has been battling cancer for one year and a half.
He suffers from a rare and aggressive cancer of the nervous stage and has been treated for Stage 4 neuroblastoma.
Originally from Maui, Hawaii, Trucker and his mom currently live in New York, and the other day they came home to a group of firetrucks outside of their building. Trucker’s dad, Joshua Dukes, is a firefighter back in Hawaii, so whenever Trucker heard a siren, his jaw dropped.
The New York City firefighters decided to surprise Trucker, and he was beyond thrilled to see them.
Trucker walked right into the arms of Caption James Grismer, according to Hawaii news channel KHON 2.
“I see this little boy excitedly walking towards me with his eyes aglow. I opened my arms and he basically climbed up and hugged me around the neck,” Grismer said. “It was as if we’ve been friends/brothers for years.”
Grismer and the other firefighters not only invited him to visit their fire station, they also threw him a third birthday party!
The firefighters have “brought us meals at the hospital, they’ve given us rides in the firetrucks, they’ve hosted us for holidays… They’ve been amazing,” said Trucker’s mom Shauna Dukes.
She has been alone with her son in New York, while Joshua takes care of their three other children in Hawaii.
When New York Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro heard about Trucker’s bond with the fire department, he wanted to make it official. On May 31, Trucker will be sworn in as an honorary firefighter at the FDNY Brooklyn headquarters.
Trucker’s mom Shauna explains that before Trucker was diagnosed, the family was at her husband’s fire station everyday.
“I think [Trucker] was just born a firefighter,” she said.
Stay tuned for May 31st, when we will do an updated story when Trucker is officially sworn in as a firefighter.
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[Featured Image Credit: Shauna Dukes/TeamTrucker.org]
Boy Battling Cancer To Become Honorary FDNY Firefighter is an article from: LifeDaily