It saddens anyone to hear about a child stricken with a disease that no young person should experience. Such was the case when Lakeside Director Nick Johnson approached the Lakeside Firefighters with the story of Jake Collins. Nick had a child in the same class as Jake when his medical situation unfolded.
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| Lakeside Firefighter Association President Eric Stamm presents the family with the gas cards. |
Like any other child, Jake was a very active boy attending Lakeview Elementary School in Lakeside. All that would change when on April 13th, 2012, Jake received a diagnosis that he had a rare cancerous tumor of the brain stem known as a Difused Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. With that diagnosis that family would soon be making daily drives to Rady Children's Hospital for radiation and chemotherapy. The treatment schedule was so rigorous that Jake's mom would leave her job to tend to Jake's needs.
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| Jake gets to hit the air horn. |
With the loss of her income the bills would soon start taking their toll on the family budget. With much of Jake's treatment not covered by their insurance the family would certainly face hardship and an uncertain future.
The firefighters were informed that the daily drives to Children's had impacted their bottom line with gas over $4.00 a gallon. To help take some of the pressure off the family the Lakeside Firefighters presented Jake's mom with $1000 in gas cards. It is our hope that this will help the family in their effort to see that Jake is cured of this illness.
Jake had also expressed a desire to see the fire engine, so the crew from Engine 3 (Lake Jennings Station) paid him a visit where he had the opportunity to take a ride in the engine. The high point of his visit was when he was allowed to honk the air horn (sorry neighbors). Ya know Jake, we still like to honk the horn.... Get well soon..!
If you would like to help this family please visit Jake's website at:
http://fundraiserforjacob.bbnow.org/index.php
Submitted By: Fire Captain Mark Grow, Lakeside Fire District
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