Terminally ill childs last christmas wish....

• imex99

  

  I'm passing this information I received, please send a Christmas card to this special child. He is a local boy 7 years old, that has brain cancer and is not expected to make it til Christmas. His wish is to receive as many Christmas cards as possible. Please help assist in making his wish come true. Thank you in advance for you love and kindness......
  
                         Send to: Nate Elfrink
                                      2415 Taylor Blair Rd
                                      West Jefferson, Ohio 43162
  
  Please pass this information on to all of your friends, family members, and co workers!  Thanks Again
  
  http://www.madison-press.com/local.asp?ID=1864&Story=2
  
  There have been many brave individuals who have had to take up the fight against cancer in their lives.
  
  Few have been as young as seven-and-a-half-year-old Nathan Elfrink, also known as “Nate the Great” at Norwood Elementary. Nate has fought a brain tumor since age one in his young life. Friday night Nate will be honored as the special guest to throw the switch along with Santa and turn on the lights and start Christmas in the Park at Garrette Park in West Jefferson.
  
  Not only will Nate be honored with turning on the holiday lights, but he will also experience the thrill of being seated right next to St. Nick to ride in the Parade of Lights, Saturday evening. Riding with Santa Claus is all part of an effort to make this Christmas the best one ever for young Nate.
  
  Co-organizer Cory Coburn explained the decision to honor Nate Elfrink at Christmas in the Park. “I talked it over with (co-organizer) Jeff Pfeil to make this Christmas special for Nate,” said Coburn. “So we decided this year to give that honor to Nate to turn on the lights Friday night and to ride with Santa in the parade Saturday.”
  
  Nate Elfrink was diagnosed with a brain tumor when he was one-year old. The tumor’s location on and near his brain stem made complete removal impossible at first. The first two surgery attempts, in 2004 and 2006, were not able to completely remove all of the tumor. Last September, St. Jude pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Frederick Boop found that the tumor had moved enough away from Nate’s brain stem to completely remove the tumor for the first time. However, a year later a test revealed that the tumor has returned.
  
  “After Labor Day this year, Nate went to St. Jude’s for his regular scheduled testing,” said his mother Dode McVey. “We saw then that the tumor had returned. We have tried another experimental chemo drug and Nate did not react to it well.”
  
  Nate has had chemo and radiation treatments, and, usually, a person goes only once through radiation of an area of the brain. New technologies at St. Jude now allow persons to be re-radiated in the brain area once and Nate had that done last September.
  
  “Last week he was to start another experimental drug, but a MRI showed his tumor is very large and fast growing,” said his mother Dode. “It is right up against his brain stem and is growing oblong. We have called children’s hospice in because we don’t know how much time he has.”
  
  Clearly, Nate’s mother is deeply touched not only by the selection of Nate to turn on the Christmas in the Park lights, but also the support of the West Jefferson community through his entire illness.
  
  “West Jefferson is a very small town and everyone knows Nate,” said Dode McVey. “The community has stood by Nathan since he was a toddler. They have gone above and beyond to help Nathan. He has been an inspiration to a lot of people going through what he has had to go through. So, I wasn’t surprised by his selection.”
  
  Nate’s mom says that he is in pretty good shape right now, but that the tumor is affecting his health. Nate has some sickness in the morning before rebounding for an average day of activities for someone his age.
  
  Nate is also under the impression that a child is chosen every year to ride with Santa in the Christmas parade. He was extremely excited to hear the news of his selection to ride with the big man Saturday night.
  
  “I told Nate, guess what, I got a phone call today and you won’t believe who they picked to ride with Santa in the parade Saturday night,” said Dode. “He asked, is it me?, and I said, ‘Yes it is.’ He is so thrilled to ride with Santa and he doesn’t even know he is the one turning on the lights Friday night.”
  
  It was decided to keep that part of his selection a secret until the actual lighting in the park Friday night. There is also another ongoing effort to assist village residents to help honor Nate during the parade Saturday night.
  
  “With the help of a donation from Carol Beachy and West Jefferson Hardware and a reduced price by Lowe’s, we will be handing out glow-in-the-dark light sticks to people watching the parade on Saturday,” explains Sandy Boucher. “So, we are looking for volunteers to walk the parade route and hand out the light sticks before the parade starts.”
  
  The hope is there will be enough volunteers so a volunteer could be in a single position to give out the light sticks instead of doing a lot of walking. Anyone who is interested in helping distribute the light sticks can call Sandy Boucher at (614) 307-6993. Donations to help with the purchasing of the light sticks are still being accepted.
  
  It will truly be a very special edition of the Christmas in the Park in West Jefferson this year and Dode McVey is thankful for everyone’s efforts for Nate.
  
  “We are just so fortunate to live in a community where we don’t have to ask for anything through all of this,” said Dode. “The people in this community have always had concerns for Nathan and they are all committed to making this Nathan’s best Christmas ever.”
  
  Kevin Dye can be reached at (740) 852-1616, ext. 20 or by e-mail at [email protected].
• GoChiefs

  

  Thanks for posting this! Thoughts to the child! I'll be sending one his way! As a matter of fact..it will be the ONLY Christmas card I'm sending out this year. Lol
• mtrulz

  Prayers from the gf and I.
• cats gone wild

  Sad story. Prayers sent out. I believe there was a boy in Michigan who had this request not too long ago, who wasnt suppose to make it till Christmas.
• imex99

  

  GoChiefs wrote: Thanks for posting this! Thoughts to the child! I'll be sending one his way! As a matter of fact..it will be the ONLY Christmas card I'm sending out this year. Lol

  No problem, I just read this the other day. No one, especially a young child should have to suffer like that....
  
  Will be my only christmas card also.
• Darkon

  

  Card is on the way.
  Good luck to this little fella and his family.
  Hope he has an amazing Christmas.
• imex99

  

  Putting my cards in the mail today.
• heel023

  

  A card will be in the mail from the Heel family.
• baseballstud24

  I'm having my class write a card for him. Every English class in our building is going to write him a card.
• j_crazy

  

  what's the rule on sending him stuff?
  
  I might throw some toys together and ship them out. In addition to the card of course.
• GoChiefs

  

  Put my card in the mail yesterday.
• september63

  

  GoChiefs wrote: Thanks for posting this! Thoughts to the child! I'll be sending one his way! As a matter of fact..it will be the ONLY Christmas card I'm sending out this year. Lol

  
  Ive sent one just a few minutes ago. BTW, Chiefs, does that mean you wont be sending me a card again this year?
• justincredible

  

  I decided this was worthy of being stickied so more people will see it.
• GoChiefs

  

  september63 wrote: Ive sent one just a few minutes ago. BTW, Chiefs, does that mean you wont be sending me a card again this year?

  Yep..sorry..you're off the list this year.
• Fly4Fun

  

  Justin, this would be a great opportunity to go to a pay-to-post site. I say we create a $12 annual fee and if you sign up now $2 of every registration goes to getting this kid a new Christmas card.
  
  When I go out shopping tomorrow I'll stop and get this kid a card.
• imex99

  

  j_crazy wrote: what's the rule on sending him stuff?
  
  I might throw some toys together and ship them out. In addition to the card of course.

  I don't know of any rules...A donation is a donation, the more he receives, maybe will help prolong his life!!!! I would guess anything and everything would be welcome. I would bet that his family is very hard up on money and joy at this time of the year...Keep up the support everyone.
  

  justincredible wrote: I decided this was worthy of being stickied so more people will see it.

  WoW and all this time I thought you were a jerk......I think you've changed my mind b/c of the sticky...................
  
  Ahhhh, nevermind!!!!!
  
  haha, j/k
  
  I bet the boy and his family appreciate everything everyone is doing, keep up the support!!
• september63

  

  What kind of comment is that imex99? he does you a favor and you say you always thought he was a jerk? Keep ur comments like that to yourself on a thread like this one. Ill talk smack all day, not on a thread about a dying boy though.
• imex99

  

  september63 wrote: What kind of comment is that imex99? he does you a favor and you say you always thought he was a jerk? Keep ur comments like that to yourself on a thread like this one. Ill talk smack all day, not on a thread about a dying boy though.

  Sorry to offend you, if you notice I started the thread...I was just saying "I appreciate the sticky" for my thread" Sorry I said it the wrong way but I started the thread to get the word out. This is a serious matter and was just trying to lighten the mood, calm down......
• vdubb96

  

  Wow, I'll have to get a card together and out the door. That kind of stuff is tough to read, especially when you have little ones at home. God bless him!!!
• SnotBubbles

  
  
  
  Here is some more info/links on the situation:
  http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/medical/elfrink.asp
  http://www.blogher.com/his-last-christmas-wish?from=hottopic
  http://www.examiner.com/a-2373003~Christmas_cards_overwhelm_Ohio_boy_with_cancer.html
  
  My son and I are going to sit down and make Nate a card tonight.
• SnotBubbles

  Another good story and a Christmas wish list: http://www.columbusmessenger.com/NC/0/7519.html
  

  Nate’s Christmas wish list: an Xbox 360 gaming system and games to go with it.

• seahawks rock

  my school choir is doing a public service project with him we have a bunch of cards
• imex99

  

  I really Like all the Freeehuddle support for the boy!!! Keep it up guys
• Scarlet_Buckeye

  

  Wow. Terribly touching. Best wishes.
• Swamp Fox

  I told my wife about this yesterday and our card is in the mail. Nice job, Freehuddle for getting the word out and getting lots of support for this courageous kid and his family. A very touching story and a very worthwhile project.