A year ago last March, five-year-old Brantley woke up acting strangely.
He was dropping things — like a whole bag of cereal on the floor. Then he began to have trouble walking and swallowing and he could not move his left arm. Fearing meningitis, his mom raced him to the emergency room. A CT scan showed the problem: a tumor at the top of his brain stem. It was cancer.
What followed were six weeks of radiation, along with oral chemotherapy. Not much fun for a kid used to riding bikes and tearing around the yard every chance he got.
Team Summer kid Hunter was one of the few people who could understand what Brantley was going through. He’s been battling complications from a brain tumor for more than two years now. He’s had a really tough time dealing with symptoms that include double vision, impaired hearing and an inability to walk.
He and Brantley were friends before Brantley was diagnosed, and Hunter was very upset when he heard the news about Brantley. But here’s the cool thing about being a Team Summer kid. You have a way to help! So we started dreaming up a great gift and planning Brantley’s surprise.
Finally the big day arrived!
You might be able to tell from the picture above that Brantley could hardly contain himself as Hunter read the Team Summer letter. He understood that he was getting a gift, and he knew – whatever it was – was in the backyard. And he offered a guess as to what might be back there: a giant marshmallow man.
Okay, that would be a first for Team Summer. Brantley, it’s not a giant marshmallow man. As soon as Hunter finished, Brantley took off like a shot to find out for himself!
Nope, not a giant marshmallow man. Something even better!
A giant SWING SET! Brantley was up into the fort and down the slide in a heartbeat.
Thanks to our amazing donors and Hunter’s big heart, Brantley now has a place all his own where he can dream big dreams about giant marshmallow men. And no matter what, Brantley knows that he has a friend who cared enough to make it happen. Way to go, Hunter!
Please consider donating to Team Summer. We are entirely funded by people like you!
