Sick child lives firefighting dream
Little Aidan Rawls slipped into red rubber boots, donned a black fire chief ’s hat and became a Lake Mary firefighter for a few hours.
The 3-year-old Apopka boy, who is battling cancer, rode last week in the front seat of a firetruck, blasting the horn as it roared through a Seminole County neighborhood. He worked a fire hose to put out imaginary fires at Station 37 and soared with a large grin as he was hoisted more than 50 feet in the air in the bucket of the station’s tower truck.
“Hopefully this is something that he’ll be able to remember for the rest of his life,” said Clayton Rawls, Aidan’s father. “I’m so happy that it’s putting a smile on his face and giving him the chance to just be a kid.”
Fire Lt. Bruce Williams jumped into action after hearing about the cheerful little boy, who was diagnosed Sept. 18 with
neuroblastoma, a fastspreading cancer that started with tumors in his kidneys. The tumors are now on Aidan’s brain and other organs.
About two years ago, Williams, 64, came up with the idea to give young children battling cancer a chance to live their dreams of being firefighters for a day. He has helped 14 kids since then, including Aidan, who loves trains, fishing and firetrucks.
“I want to give them a chance for just a few hours in a day to forget about the hospitals, to forget about the chemotherapy, to forget about everything they’re going through, and just to have fun being a kid,” Williams said. “It’s just an idea that popped into my head, and I decided to go ahead and do it.”
To find children to take part in the program, Williams works with Hugz from Bugz, a nonprofit organization started by then 6-year-old Haley “Bugz” Ebbert of DeBary that helps families affected by childhood cancer. It raises money and brings care packages, gift cards and toys to patients and families at local hospitals. Bugz, once diagnosed with a type of leukemia, is now 13 and cancer free.
As Williams spoke he watched Aidan use the fire hose to spray water on a make-believe fire on the driveway at the station.
“I’m putting out the fires,” said Aidan, as his mother, Elena Rawls, stood nearby.
“You’re doing an excellent job,” Lake Mary engineer firefighter and paramedic Bryan Hollins said as he helped Aidan hold the hose.
“The last thing this little guy is thinking about right now is being sick,” Williams said.
Clayton Rawls said Aidan seldom complains. He said he and his family are optimistic about Aidan’s chances to get healthy.
To blast the cancer, doctors gave Aidan a lengthy round of chemotherapy, radiation and blood transfusions that forced him to stay in the hospital for more than two weeks. His light brown hair is now gone. He has a small tube inserted into his chest just above his heart to deliver medication. He has been given a 50-50 chance of beating the disease.
“It’s a deadly thing, cancer,” Clayton Rawls said. “But he’s a warrior, and he’ll get through it.”
Aidan then put the fire hose down, gave a wave to his mother and ran to the firetruck with a smile.