Little Fireman (very touching)
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 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 Klein, 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.
The fireman 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, and 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.
Billy was "in heaven."
There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out
on all three calls. He rode the different fire engines, the paramedic's
van and even in 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 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 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?"
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, as the fireman all stood around the bed
with their hands to their foreheads in silent salute and with tears
running down their cheeks.
(The person who originally made this story available got to meet fireman
Bob Klein in Phoenix, and Klein gave him the article from the Phoenix
paper. That person said, as he passed this on, "It just keeps on coming
back to me.")
.... as it no doubt will to all of us.