Family of three-year-old brain cancer survivor get surprise home makeover
The holidays are often a time we remember what we’re most grateful for, and this Thanksgiving is an extra special one for the Fowler family.
Transcript
00:00 I'm just happy to be home.
00:01 The holidays are often a time we remember
00:04 what we're most grateful for.
00:06 For the Fowler family,
00:07 this Thanksgiving is all about
00:09 being reunited as a family.
00:11 Certainly something worth giving thanks.
00:13 The journey has been.
00:14 Up and down, you know,
00:16 a lot of highs, a lot of lows and.
00:21 You know, missing these guys being
00:24 seeming being separated from them.
00:26 Obviously that you know our dog and
00:28 we're such a tight knit family and
00:31 being pulled apart for so long has been
00:34 just gut wrenching and heartbreaking.
00:36 Meet three year old Beckett,
00:38 one of the bravest little three
00:41 year olds you'll ever meet.
00:43 For the better part of the last six months,
00:47 Beckett mom and dad had been living
00:50 in Tennessee at Saint Jude's Hospital.
00:52 Beckett has been battling ATRT brain cancer,
00:54 a very rare, aggressive,
00:56 fast growing tumor that usually
00:58 occurs in kids ages three and younger.
01:00 Beckett was diagnosed with
01:01 ATRT on March 22nd.
01:03 About a month after his birthday,
01:05 we found out and he got a surgery here
01:08 and then we ended up finding out that
01:11 we got he had ATRT so we went to Saint Jude.
01:14 We did.
01:15 He did another surgery there where
01:17 he got a gross total resection,
01:19 so he got it.
01:20 They got it all out on April 6th,
01:23 so he has technically been
01:25 cancer free since then.
01:26 At just three years old,
01:28 this little warrior has undergone
01:30 serious surgeries to remove the tumor.
01:32 30 rounds of radiation and five
01:34 rounds of chemo, all while being
01:36 separated from his three other
01:37 siblings. He was very motivated
01:39 to come home every day.
01:41 He was asking us when we're going home.
01:43 When are we going home?
01:45 But Thanksgiving couldn't come soon enough.
01:47 The Fowlers prayers have been answered
01:49 and together with their little boy,
01:51 mom and dad are back home.
01:53 Beckett is cancer free.
01:54 When we found out there was
01:57 no evidence of disease.
01:58 A weight was lifted. Yeah,
02:03 a special homecoming for a very special boy.
02:06 In fact, after hearing his story,
02:08 the Sweet Dreams Project,
02:09 a local Rochester based charity,
02:11 decided to step in and with the
02:13 help of donations and time from
02:15 others to make Beckett's home even
02:18 sweeter, they started on the room
02:20 of his dreams, including a monster
02:22 truck bed. We ended up buying
02:24 it and ended up walking through
02:25 the house and I could just tell
02:28 that it was something that needed
02:29 a little more than just the child's
02:32 room worked on. They had had some
02:34 water damage previously while they
02:35 were out of town and the house
02:37 was just in need of some help.
02:39 And the giving didn't stop there.
02:41 It started with Sherry saying
02:42 we'd like to do Beckett's room
02:44 and then she texted us about a
02:46 month later and said we'd like
02:48 to do the kids room.
02:49 SDP, along with generosity from this
02:51 community, gave the Fowler home an
02:53 extra layer of comfort.
02:54 Beckett's room is now a
02:55 family home. He's also
02:56 celebrating his first birthday
02:57 with his family, including his
02:58 siblings rooms to it's like the
02:59 shows on TV. You know, it's
03:03 it's. Incredible Absolutely
03:05 incredible. The Sweet Dreams
03:06 Project has been around for 23
03:10 years. We have been, um,
03:12 redoing sick Children's bedrooms
03:14 for 23 years, and every single