"Andrew's Home"
The first thing you need to know about Andrew is that he loved cars. We met him in the fall of 2009 at a Family Cancer Weekend Retreat hosted by Deliver the Dream. Every moment we saw him, he had a car in his hands. Usually, it was a a Corvette, or Ferrari or Porsche. He had his favorites, but he loved them all! His mom said, it was like he was "born with a car in his hand". He loved to play with them from the time he was very small and never lost his passion for cars. He collected them, organized them and played with them endlessly.
The next thing we noticed about Andrew after meeting his was his amazing family. Little brother to Tory (14) and big brother to Sierra (2), Andrew had a great love and bond with his family. Both mom and dad are deaf, and this extremely special family touched our lives immediately upon meeting them. There is an instant bond between cancer families, but this one was unique. As we grew closer to the family, we learned that Andrew was a very bright young boy, an honor roll student, and a gifted child.
That was until, at age 7, he was diagnosed with an aggressive and rare form of brain cancer. Devastatingly, it was not only inoperable, but it was also incurable. This may be hard to believe in this day and age of healthcare and medical advances, but many of these kids are given no chance of survival. None! The family was told he had a 0% chance to survive.
They entered into chemotherapy and aggressive treatment that would be mostly palliative and not curative, desperately trying to extend what time they had and look for more options and opinions. Sadly the treatment robbed Andrew of the ability to speak and walk for the remaining 6 months of his life.
That is when we met Andrew. He was in a wheelchair and could not speak but was full of a special form of communication that gripped your heart. We knew immediately we wanted to do something special for Andrew and his family. Once we got home, we immediately enlisted the help of the Miami Dade Police Department's Mortgage Fraud Task Force as well as anyone willing to participate. In turn, they enlisted the help of Ken Gorin from The Collection. Together, we all joined forces to raise money for the family, (a little over $800.00), attain Christmas presents for the kids, and most importantly, get Andrew in a real Ferrari! That's right.! Mr. Gorin loaded up one of the worlds rarest and most valuable Ferrari's on a flat bed truck and drove it to Andrews home, where he took Andrew for the ride of his life. Mr. Gorin would gladly tell you Andrew giggled the entire time as he drove him around the neighborhood. And I can attest- that giggle is infectious!
Sadly, on Good Friday, 2010 we attended the wake of sweet 8 year old Andrew. He is no longer in pain, no longer unable to speak or walk. He is in the presence of the Lord. When I saw mom and dad at the wake, my eyes flooded full of tears. Even thought they can not hear my voice, I knew they could hear my heart. Dad looked at me and mouthed the words, "He's Home Now."
We share this story with you because these are the realities of childhood cancer. Many of these children will survive and we love sharing their stories of victory of childhood cancer with you. But many won't. We will do everything in our power to assist these families during their times of joy and their times of loss. We will "rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn". (Romans 12:15)
As you think of it, please pray for the Broomfield Family and please consider supporting CBC with a donation to help assist these families during this time. *Every penny donated goes directly to the families!
