Boy, 7, battling leukemia gets wish to be a garbage man
Carter Gomes has known for most of his seven years what he wants to be when he grows up.
The second-grader, who has battled leukemia since he was 3, volunteers each Tuesday evening to roll his neighbors’ garbage cans out to the curb in Turlock, California.
“During COVID, he would wake us up at 6:30 and he would want to stand in front of the window and watch the garbage trucks every Wednesday,” his father, Walt Gomes, told USA TODAY.
Carter has had garbage-man-themed birthday parties and dressed up as a garbage truck one Halloween, according to his mom, Elsa Gomes.
“He’s got more garbage trucks and garbage cans than we can count,” she said.
Carter didn’t have to wait until he was older to live his dream, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and his community. His dream of becoming a garbage man was the second granted by Make-A-Wish Northeastern and Central California/Northern Nevada.
Wish kids don’t need to have a terminal prognosis, but they do have to be diagnosed with a critical illness to qualify, according to CEO Karen Alvord. Carter’s medical team referred him to Make-AWish, which has granted more than 350,000 wishes for children since 1980.
Three years ago, Carter visited its Sacramento facility to drop his wish into a wishing well, his mom said.
From pandemic pause to reality
Carter’s wish had been in the works since 2019, but family health issues and the pandemic placed plans on hold. On Nov. 7, the organization finally granted his wish of joining Turlock Scavenger’s garbage collection team as he rode alongside his uncle, who is a company employee.
Make-A-Wish invited Carter’s 500 peers to a school-wide assembly where spectators chanted his name as he climbed into the garbage truck.
From there, Carter met local police and fire department members and made several stops en route to the city’s waste management, including the Chamber of Commerce.
The wish kid was showered with gifts and goodies on his special day, including a garbage pickup-themed cake.
He also visited the Stanford Emanuel Radiation Oncology Center in Turlock, where he got to empty the facility’s garbage and hit a major milestone in his cancer journey.
With a smile on his face, Carter eagerly rang the no-more-chemo bell as a crowd cheered him on.
‘He made it through’
Cancer is a word no parent expects to hear, Elsa Gomes said as she recalled Carter’s diagnosis at age 3.
“(There’s) all of the fear that comes with it and what could be the outcome of it,” said Gomes, who also is a mother to Carter’s sister, 5-year-old Keely Gomes.
Carter was initially on a three-year treatment plan, his mother said.
“Because of the extensive research they’ve done with leukemia and his particular type being a standard case, treatment was down to two years instead,” she said. “He did amazing.”