Orange County Fire Department Organizes Fundraiser For 5-Year-Old Battling Leukemia
MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- An Orange County family will soon get a big boost from a local fire department to help their young boy battling leukemia.
And he's no stranger to the firehouse.
In his short young life, 5-year-old Rowan Mohammed's most enduring wish is to become a firefighter, just like his beloved grandfather, Bruce.
A seemingly endless and adorable array of photos will tell you that.
Rowan's parents, Gershon and Brianne of Middletown, said their son has the bravery. He has the will.
He also has leukemia, and for Rowan that means nothing is promised.
"It's very scary. Your life kind of turns upside down," Brianne told CBS2's Scott Rapoport.
For the past seven months, rowan has undergone intense chemotherapy every single week. His immune system has been weakened as he's fought to get better.
Indeed, Rapoport had to wear a mask for this story for Rowan's protection.
"It's very dangerous. We have to protect his immune system. In terms of being out in public, he's had to pretty much be in isolation the last few months," Brianne said.
For the Mohammeds, the cost of all this has been difficult, emotionally and economically. But Rowan and his family are not going it alone.
The volunteers at a firehouse in nearby Goshen, where Rowan's grandfather is a firefighter, have now taken the little boy who would be a firefighter and made him their own. They've organized a fundraiser for the Mohammed family next Saturday at a local restaurant to raise extra money for the family.
They hope to help Rowan, who hopes to become one of them one day.
"For us to be able to make sure he's around to experience that and to try to achieve his goal of becoming one of us one day, I mean that's an obligation that every firefighter takes on," Goshen Fire Lt. Daniel Graham said.
For Rowan's mom and dad, the bravest helping their brave son, who they said is now in remission, means everything.
"It's ridiculously humbling. I have no words to be able to thank them as much as I would like to," Brianne said.
So this little boy can realize his dream and become a firefighter. Just like his grandpa.
