A brave little boy who's fighting cancer is about to see his dream come true.
The New York Fire Department will make Trucker Dukes an honorary member on May 31.
Trucker is three years old. He's living in New York so he can get treatment for stage 4 neuroblastoma, an aggressive cancer that affects the nervous system.
His mom Shauna said one day they returned to find a number of fire trucks outside their building. Trucker was thrilled. His dad is a firefighter back home in Hawaii, the Today Show reports.
Trucker ran straight into the arms of Captain James Grismer.
"I see this little boy excitedly walking towards me with his eyes aglow. I opened my arms and he basically climbed up and hugged me around the neck," Grismer told Hawaii news channel KHON 2. "It was as if we've been friends/brothers for years."
Capt. Grismer and other firefighters let Trucker take a look around their fire engine and invited him to the station for his third birthday party.
Shauna traveled to New York with Trucker for his treatment while her husband and their three other kids stayed in Hawai'i. She was touched by the firefighters' interest in Trucker, and appreciates everything they've done for him: bringing meals to the hospital, given him rides in the fire trucks and even hosting them for the holidays.
"We have these people that are now like our family that we wouldn't have met otherwise."
When New York Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro heard about Trucker's bond with the fire department, he reached out to the Dukes and offered to make it official. The toddler will be sworn in as an honorary firefighter at the FDNY's Brooklyn headquarters on May 31.
Follow Trucker's story here or make a donation.
