Toddler with deadly brain cancer gets Christmas early

CINCINNATI — There will be a Christmas parade today. With Santa Claus on a firetruck. And carolers. And superheroes. Brody Allen’s family knows it’s all three months early. But they also know that Brody might not be here for Christmas in December. So Christmas is coming to Brody.

This summer, Brody’s parents, Todd and Shilo Allen, were told that their 2- year- old son’s rare form of brain cancer meant he likely had about two months to live.

Brody loves Christmas. So the toddler’s family decided to celebrate early, putting up a tree and decorations, and their neighbors in the Cincinnati area followed suit.

“In his mind it is just Christmas,” said McKenzie Allen, 21, one of Brody’s sister. “He woke up one day and the Christmas tree was out. He doesn’t know it isn’t really Christmas. He is just enjoying it.”

Brody’s health has deteriorated and the toddler no longer has much energy, or the use of his left arm and left leg. He likes to be outside, so he often sits in a red Radio Flyer wagon, a blanket thrown over him and a hoodie pulled over his head, his siblings pulling him around their neighborhood in Colerain Township, a suburb of Cincinnati.

There he can see an inflatable Minnie and Mickey Mouse, a snowman, Santa Claus and a Christmas tree on the yard of Barbara Brody Allen, 2, is surrounded by toys and gifts he’s received at his Cincinnati-area home. His family is celebrating Christmas early because he has a deadly brain cancer. Elliott, a neighbor whose home is one of many in the Allens’ cul-de-sac that has been decorated for Brody.

Brody’s family first learned in May that he was critically ill; he had been dizzy and his body would go limp. Tests at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center revealed that Brody had four brain tumors.

Brody went through the most aggressive chemotherapy treatment possible, but it wasn’t effective. There were no other options. So Brody’s family set out to keep him happy.

That’s when friends and neighbors joined in. Inflatable Santas appeared on lawns. Lights went up on homes. Dozens of carolers wearing reindeer antlers went door-to-door, singing “Jingle Bells.”

Word spread nationally and even internationally. A GoFundMe page has raised more than $35,000 for the family’s medical bills. Toys and other gifts started coming to the house. And

holiday cards began arriving in the mail: In one day, Brody received more than 60.

The community is now planning Sunday’s Christmas parade, with Brody to be the grand marshal. The parade will go into the evening, with fireworks to end the festivities.

Brody’s family said they’ll then celebrate “Christmas Eve” on Monday — the 24th — and a quiet, just-forfamily “Christmas Day” on Tuesday the 25th.