A youngster and his father had a once-in-a-lifetime expertise due to a considerate gesture from a CEO.
Joseph Tegerdine, 18, of Springville, Utah, is at present in his fifth yr of battling bone most cancers.
Tegerdine was recognized with osteosarcoma bone most cancers in May 2019 after affected by knee ache ever since he was 13.
In Jan. 2022, most cancers was additionally present in his lungs and his hip. He had surgical procedure and chemotherapy to deal with it.
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Two years later, in Feb. 2024, the most cancers was discovered once more in his lungs, one thing his mom advised Fox News Digital pushed the household to start checking issues off his bucket checklist, as Fox News Digital beforehand reported.
“We’re focusing on making memories and doing bucket list items for him,” Kerry Tegerdine stated.
Joseph Tegerdine, age 18, acquired a Ford Mustang due to his father. (SWNS)
One of these bucket checklist objects included proudly owning a Ford Mustang — one thing Joseph Tegerdine’s father, Joe Tegerdine, made occur just lately.
Kerry Tegerdine advised Fox News Digital that her husband knew her son wouldn’t have sufficient time to save lots of sufficient cash to purchase it himself — so her husband went out and purchased him one.
Yet the excellent news for Joseph Tegerdine didn’t cease there.
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As the elder Joe Tegerdine posted on X, “For those wondering why I’d buy my 18yr old son a 330hp Mustang, well, he’s been given months to live and can’t work long enough to buy one himself. His comment on the way home: ‘Dad, I’m going to squeeze a few extra months of life just to be able to drive this,’ #cancersucks.”
The submit on X gained consideration from many — together with Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford Motors.
Joseph Tegerdine, 18 years previous, was recognized with most cancers 5 years in the past, however he bought to reside out a dream second only in the near past. (Joe Tegerdine)
In a tweeted response, Farley shared his condolences for what the Tegerdines had been going by — then supplied each Joe Tegerdine and son Joseph Tegerdine the prospect to drive a Ford Mustang Dark Horse on the monitor on the Ford Performance Racing School in Charlotte, North Carolina.
This previous week, the Tegerdines did simply that.
In a telephone interview on Tuesday, April 16, Joe Tegerdine advised Fox News Digital that the expertise was onerous for him to place into phrases.
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“It’s hard to describe, [but] there’s this feeling of finality … This is probably our last time doing something like this,” he stated.
The pair traveled from Utah to North Carolina for the event, one thing Joe Tegerdine stated nearly didn’t occur attributable to his son’s elevated hip ache after radiation over the previous couple of weeks.
Dad Joe Tegerdine, at proper, is pictured along with his son, Joseph Tegerdine, left. The dad advised Fox News Digital that it was onerous to place into phrases how a lot the expertise meant to him. (Joe Tegerdine)
“He [Joseph] was like, ‘Dad, I don’t care if you have to roll me in on a gurney, I’m going to this driving school’,” he recalled.
He added, “He [Joseph] had the most energy I’ve seen in months, just a super big smile and super excited.”
“You just realize that you’re enjoying these precious little moments of smiles and excitement and not knowing how many more there are going to be before he passes.”
The pair had been taught easy methods to correctly drive the specialty automobile and extra earlier than getting their likelihood behind the steering wheel.
“I mean, everything was just such a great adrenaline rush and a great experience,” he stated.
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Ford Motors even stunned the 2 with customized helmets for his or her driving college expertise that matched the sample of their sports activities automobile.
Joseph Tegerdine is proven on the racetrack. (Joe Tegerdine)
Ford Motor Company president and chief government officer Jim Farley advised Fox News Digital through e-mail that the corporate was “simply happy [that] we could provide this experience to Joe and Joseph.”
Joe Tegerdine shared that his son completed radiation on Monday, April 15, in an effort to cease the biggest tumor on his lungs from rising additional.
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However, Joseph Tegerdine had an rising quantity of ache in his hip the place one other massive tumor lies.
“He’s exhausted,” Joe Tegerdine stated. “There are no treatments left for osteosarcoma — we’ve pretty much exhausted everything.”
Joseph Tegerdine is pictured with a customized helmet from Ford Motors. (Joe Tegerdine)
He added that the racing college expertise was onerous to explain attributable to its “feeling of finality.”
“You just realize that you’re enjoying these precious little moments of smiles and excitement and not knowing how many more there are going to be before he passes,” he stated.
Joseph Tegerdine remains to be doing typical 18-year-old issues like going to promenade this month.
Dad Joe Tegerdine advised Fox News Digital that his son and his girlfriend will take promenade photographs in entrance of the Ford Mustang.
“It’s a precious time,” his father stated.
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