Danny Nickerson Celebrates Birthday At Gillette Stadium, Birthday Cards Pour In
Danny Nickerson, a young boy with an inoperable brain tumor, celebrated his 6th birthday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts this weekend. According to Patriots.com, Danny spent Friday (his actual birthday) at Legoland in Boston before meeting up with New England Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft. The next day, Danny was thrown a surprise birthday party at the stadium.
“Danny’s special day began with a convoy of more than 100 police, fire and EMS vehicles arriving at Gillette Stadium shortly before 9 am Hundreds of public safety officials representing more than 40 communities throughout the region then gathered on the steps of Patriot Place’s grand staircase to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to the guest of honor.”
Danny is well-known and well-loved in the town, and his one birthday request touched people around the country. Danny could have asked for anything in the world when his parents asked him what he wanted for his birthday, but Danny simply said that he wanted birthday cards. And cards are just what he got.
Not long after Danny’s request made local news, people from all over the state started sending him cards just in time for his special day. News spread little by little, and cards started pouring into the local post office. According to Boston.com, Danny received more mail in one day than the whole town of Foxborough (Population: 16,246).
Danny Nickerson has received over 150,000 cards so far. Danny’s parents are overwhelmed with the support that strangers have shown their little boy.
“It’s overwhelming. Everyone has been amazing. They’ve all come together and are here for our little boy. It’s been amazing to see him so happy. He loves getting mail.”
Danny has gotten a lot more than just mail, however. His story has gotten the attention of various celebrities from Ashton Kutcher to Justin Bieber. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, The Biebs posted the following message for Danny on Friday.
Danny Nickerson was diagnosed with DIPG in October 2013. The brain tumor is resistant to chemotherapy treatment and survival is considered rare. Danny has undergone 33 radiation treatments and is given chemotherapy every two weeks. Doctors say that children with disease usually don’t live longer than 18 months after diagnosis.
Danny’s family remains hopeful nonetheless. His mom posted the following message on Facebook yesterday.
“This week, please pray extra hard for us as Danny has an MRI on Wednesday morning. All the busyness of this past week has been a great distraction from our normal sadness and anxiety, but as the week has quieted down, i am again faced with the reality of what our everyday is like. Luckily we have plenty of amazing cards and packages to open and keep us busy thanks to all of you and your incredible generosity and love for my precious boy! We are forever grateful for each of you! Please remember to pray for Danny extra hard this week! We believe in the power of prayer. ‘Never stop believing in hope because miracles happen every day!'”
If you would still like to send Danny a card, it can be mailed to Danny Nickerson, P.O. Box 212, Foxborough, MA, 02035.
[Photo courtesy of Facebook]
