The
26-year-old mother stared down at her son who was dying of leukemia.
Although her heart was filled with sadness, she also had a strong
feeling of determination. Like any parent she wanted her son to grow
up and fulfill all his dreams. Now that was no longer possible.
The leukemia would see to that. But she still wanted her son's
dreams to come true. She took her son's hand and asked, "Billy,
did you ever think about what you wanted to be once you grew up? Did
you ever dream and wish what you would do with your life?"
"Mommy, I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up."
Mom smiled back and said, "Let's see if we can make your wish
come true."
Later that day she went to her local fire department in Phoenix,
Arizona, where
she
met Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Phoenix. She explained
her son's final wish and asked if it might be possible to give her
six-year-old son a ride around the block on a fire engine.
Fireman Bob said, "Look, we can do better than that. If you'll
have your son ready at seven o'clock Wednesday morning, we'll make
him an honorary fireman for the whole day. He can come down to the
fire station, eat with us, go out on all the fire calls, the whole
nine yards! "And if you'll give us his sizes, we'll get a real
fire uniform for him, with a real fire hat - not a toy one - with
the emblem of the Phoenix Fire Department on it, a yellow slicker
like we wear and rubber boots. They're all manufactured right here
in Phoenix, so we can get them fast."
Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy, dressed him in his
fire uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting
hook and ladder truck. Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and
help steer it back to the fire station. He was in heaven. There were
three fire calls in
Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out on all three calls. He rode
in the different fire engines, the paramedic's van and even the fire
chief's car.
He was also video taped for the local news program.
Having
his dream come true, with all the love and attention that was
lavished upon him, so deeply touched Billy that he lived three
months longer than any doctor thought possible.
One night all of his vital signs began to drop dramatically and the
head nurse, who believed in the hospice concept that no one should
die alone, began to call the family members to the hospital. Then
she remembered the day Billy had spent as a fireman, so she called
the fire chief and asked if it would be possible to send a fireman
in uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he made his
transition. The chief replied, " We can do better than that.
We'll be there in five minutes. Will you please do me a favor? When
you hear the sirens screaming and see the lights flashing, will you
announce over the PA system that there is not a fire?" It's
just the fire department coming to see one of it's finest members
one more time. And will you open
the window to his room? Thanks."
About
five minutes later a hook and ladder truck arrived at the hospital,
extended its ladder up to Billy's third floor open window and 16
firefighters climbed up the ladder into Billy's room. With his
mother's permission, they hugged him and held him and told him how
much they loved him. With his dying breath, Billy looked up at the
fire chief and said, “Chief, am I really a
fireman
now? "Billy, you are," the chief said. With those words,
Billy smiled and closed his eyes one last time.