We were special guests at Austin's birthday party on June 14th. We presented him with an Honorary Junior WIGB membership, a Certificate of Anti-Paranormal Proficiency, a custom flight suit, and a kid-sized proton pack. The look on his face when he "suited up" was priceless. And just look at that smile when he got to "drive" the Ecto. We're so glad we could make his day one he won't soon forget. Of course we had a lot of help as well from the family and their friends.
Austin's story as provided by his mother, Kim: Austin just celebrated his 6th birthday Ghostbuster style. A dream and wish come true for him. A year ago we weren't guaranteed that he would even have another birthday. Austin was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in May of 2011. He endured weekly chemotherapy, multiple hospital stays and cranial radiation. He was in the maintenance phase of treatment for 6 months and was a happy, thriving 4 year old. On a routine visit in October of 2012, we were devastated once again and told that he had relapsed. It was then that our only option was a bone marrow transplant. February 28th, 2013, we were blessed to have a donor off of the bone marrow registry that was a perfect match able to donate and give another chance of life to our only child. He did great and recovered quickly. Sadly, 3 months after transplant in May of 2013, we were told that he relapsed again. Our only option at this time was a clinical trial that was being done only in Philadelphia, an option that never existed even the year before. We left to Philly, lived there for 6 weeks, Austin was patient #21 in the pediatric world to have this immunotherapy done and to this day, he is 8 months and counting in remission. A 3x cancer fighter and survivor. So this birthday was a blessing not only for him with the Ghostbusters being there, but for all of us that love him and fight to have him here with us. Thank you Ghostbusters of WI for making his 6th birthday one that no one will ever forget!
The full album can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 307&type=3