In Phoenix , Arizona , a 26-year-old mother stared
> down at her 6 year old son, who was dying of
> terminal 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 videotaped 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 its 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 and extended its ladder
> up to Billy's third floor open window
> 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, and the Head Chief, Jesus, is holding your hand,"
> the chief said.
> With those words, Billy smiled and said,
> "I know, He's been holding my hand all day, and the angels have been singing.."
> He closed his eyes one last time.

I can relate. When your lying there and your family is all around you its like you don't know what to do or say. Most of the time your mind is just focused on pain relief and silent prayer. You look at each of them and study the lines in their faces and remember the places you've been and the things that you've done. The warmth of your mothers hand feels so good, you can almost feel her pulse.
I've been there.

i'm a paramedic in texas

seen alot of those cases

,sometimes the best treatment we give is just being there for the families, for they too, are our patients...

a place i worked in arizona, one of our volunteer firefighters was in hospice care in tucson. his wife called and told us that he wanted to come home to be with his family, and to tell the chief he wanted me to come get him.

i, and my partner went up and brought Perk home, and i rode with him and just held his hand. he never spoke until we got him home that night. he thanked us all, and we put him to bed.

about 3 or 4 the next morning his wife called on our emergency line and said it was aout over, and wanted us to come over and be there.

we came in and looked at him, and he opened his eyes and smiled and that was all. he closed his eyes and let out his last breath.

we stayed until sunup and left to return to our station. it was a long day taht day, and later we transported Perk by family request, in our ambulance.

he never liked hearses, so we granted his last request.

that always stays with me, trying to do what you can for people, and their families.

Not sure how it works in the rest of the world, but in South Africa there’s an Organization called Reach for a Dream; in their words "Fulfilling the dreams of children with life threatening illnesses".
With help, they have fulfilled many a dream.

Eric...We have that same program here in the states..its called the MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION
. An excellent foundation that with the help of all its generous donors, have granted the final wishes of thousands of terminally ill children.

Mary (++)

How sad and wonderful all at once..had this grown man in tears.

I was tearing up at the third line

Its sooo nice to see that all you big, grown, strong men are not afraid to show your sensitive side...now that really tears me up...

To be honest, anytime I ever had the chance to do somthing like that I would definatly go for it and give it my all.