Firefighters Around the Country Send Viral Messages to 3-Year-Old with Cancer: 'He Is a Hero'

12/31/2024 01:29 PM

"When you think of firefighters, you think of strong and brave and all of those things, and that's exactly our Beckham," said mother McKenna Botts

• Beckham Botts, now 3, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma two days before he was born in December 2021
• Beckham has had an interest in fire trucks since he was 1 year old
• After receiving video birthday messages from firefighters who responded to his mom's social media post, Beckham toured a fire station in Phoenix

The recent birthday of a 3-year-old Arizona boy who is battling cancer became even sweeter, thanks to caring firefighters in Phoenix and across the country. 

Two days before his birth in December 2021, Beckham Botts was diagnosed with neuroblastoma — a cancer that commonly occurs in and around the adrenal gland and affects children age 5 or younger, according to the Mayo Clinic. 

"There's no treatment or anything like that, and it just continuously has gotten smaller," Beckham's mother, McKenna, told AZFamily. "So, we're very lucky."

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Beckham's father Eric told ABC affiliate KNXV that Beckham's first holidays after he was born were spent in the neonatal intensive care unit, later followed by numerous doctors' visits. 

McKenna also told KNXV that Beckham developed an interest in firetrucks when he spotted one while he and his family were out on the porch at the age of 1. 

"He was just pointing at it," McKenna remembered. "He couldn't even talk yet, just pointing at it."

KNXV reported that since then, Beckham's interest in firefighting has included wearing miniature uniforms and collecting fire trucks. 

When it came time for his third birthday, Beckham's family wanted to make the occasion very special. So McKenna went on social media and asked firefighters to submit videos or photos to the family or even invite them to a fire station, AZFamily reported. 

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The request went viral and Beckham received video birthday messages from firefighters nationwide as well as invitations to their fire stations, said the family. 

"It is so incredible to me because when you think of firefighters, you think of strong and brave and all of those things, and that's exactly our Beckham," McKenna told KNXV.

Then, on Dec. 19, Beckham and his family were invited to visit Station 56 in north Phoenix to mark the boy's birthday, AZFamily reported. There, Beckham met firefighter-paramedic Michael Lorenz, went inside a fire truck wearing a fire helmet, held a fire hose and received a birthday cake. 

"He's definitely a lot tougher than we are," Lorenz said of Beckham to AZFamily. "He is a hero. For his parents to be as tough as they are, to be able to deal with that and to still be mom and dad and to still put a smile on his face... that's just amazing to see that."

Beckham's family expressed their gratitude to the firefighters for making their child's dream come true. 

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"I can't even find the words, honestly," McKenna said, according to KNXV. "Thank you guys so, so much for making our boy's day special."

She also told AZFamily that Beckham would like to be a firefighter one day. 

"I just like saw a glimpse of that with his fire hat on and shooting the hose and everything," McKenna told the outlet. "When you think of firefighters, you think of strong and brave. That's exactly what I think of with my son, too."

PEOPLE reached out to McKenna Botts for comment on Tuesday, Dec. 31. A Facebook page was created by the family describing his journey.