FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - It was a dream come true for a little South Florida boy fighting a big battle as he became a firefighter for a day.
He thought he was going in for a doctor’s appointment, but instead, he was in for a terrific twist.
Dylan Lindsay arrived at Salah Foundation Children’s Hospital at Broward Health Medical Center for his regular appointment.
“Well, we’re usually here for chemo during the week, so he thought he was coming to do chemo,” said Katrice Eason, Dylan’s mother.
The 6-year-old has leukemia and is undergoing treatment, and on Thursday, he had some company.
When asked what he usually comes to the hospital for, he said, “Chemo.”
When asked what he saw when he walked in, Dylan said, “All the firefighters.”
“Hi, Dylan,” said Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr. “Can I pin you? I brought you a badge. You’re going to be an honorary Fort Lauderdale firefighter. What do you think about that?”
It was a dream come true for Dylan.
“We live next to a fire station, like right around the corner,” said Eason. “Every time it passes by he goes, ‘Mommy, that’s my job.’ I go, ‘Yeah, you’re right. That is your job.'”
The last few months have been difficult for the family. Dylan cannot attend school because of his daily chemotherapy sessions that lasts for hours.
His mother said before the diagnosis, Dylan was just a healthy, active kid.
“Sick the next, down the next and just not knowing what to do, where to go,” said Eason.
The pair went to Broward Health who teamed up with Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach Fire Rescue to give him a uniform.
Once he approved, it was time to get to work.
“There is nothing better in our lives than to make a difference in some young man like that,” said Kerr. “To see that smile on his face, when he was able to open that nozzle and knock the cone over, nothing better.”
One day on the job down. A lifetime to go.
“Just don’t give up. This is your dream,” said Eason. “This is what you want to do, and we want to encourage him to keep that dream.”
Dylan is the first year of a three year treatment. The good news is he is in remission, and the doctors can find no leukemia in his body at this time.
These big dreams that he has of becoming a firefighter are closer to becoming a reality.
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