TORONTO -- A community came together to grant the Christmas wish of a southwestern Ontario boy who is battling an aggressive form of cancer.
Doctors first discovered Brock Hasson had testicular cancer in 2017, when he was only seven. He was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, which is a very rare, aggressive form of cancer.
To help him through it, the Amherstburg Fire Department made him an honorary junior firefighter for a day.
Last month, the cancer returned – putting Brock into his third battle with the disease. The town is coming together again to make another one of his wishes come true.
Family friend Robin Ferguson said Brock had asked his mother for the outside of the house to be decorated for Christmas.
Upon hearing that, she told CTV News Windsor that she thought to herself: “I'll throw a crew together and we are going to light up the house for Brock.”
Ferguson helped collect donations from the community. A local fire station offered up its ladder truck and around 40 volunteers to help string more than 3,000 lights on the house and set up five inflatables on Brock’s front lawn.
They even decorated his bedroom for an extra-special touch. Ferguson hopes the efforts bring Brock and his family some holiday joy.
“It's a matter of the Christmas spirit and making a boy (smile) during the hardest time any family can go through,” she said.
One of Santa’s helpers, fire chief Bruce Montone, said, “we always step up to help out.”
Montone explained that when he first heard about the idea, he strongly felt “we need to get here and to really make this a special Christmas for Brock.”
Brock is scheduled to start chemotherapy treatment next week. His grandmother Brenda said that Brock told her, “I’m going to fight and then I’m going to be happy.”
In the meantime, a GoFundMe page has been set up for people to help pay for the family’s expenses while Brock undergoes treatment.
