On Thursday Liam Salmon turned 5 years old. Like many young boys, he’s a huge fan of tractors. But unlike other boys his age, this trucker’s son is also fighting back against a rare brain tumor. To help raise his spirits, truckers banded together to make his birthday a special one.
Liam was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) in January. The diagnosis currently has a 0% survival rate. So Liam’s father, Howard Salmon, took a break from his driving job to spend as much time as possible with his son.
“We are going to fight like hell,” Howard told FreightWaves. “We have to try something — we can’t give up.”
Even though Liam became wheelchair bound in July, that didn’t dampen his spirits – or his love of tractors. Before his diagnosis, Liam would drive his toy John Deere next to his father who was behind the wheel of the real thing. In October local charities surprised him with a John Deere-themed electric wheelchair.
But Liam’s health has been deteriorating. His family was worried he wouldn’t make it to his fifth birthday so they held a celebration for him a week early just in case. On Thursday though, a local trucking company organized a drive-by for Liam.
As Liam’s story spread on social media, Howard shared that Liam loves getting mail almost as much as he loves John Deere. So birthday cards came pouring in from truckers across the country.
If you’d like to send Liam a card, it’s not too late! Send one to him at:
Liam Salmon
6028 Calin Lane
Anderson, CA 96007
The Salmons have also started a GoFundMe to help them be able to stay home from work and be with him while they still can.
Source: freightwaves, gofundme
Dear salmons, if a permanent needle was inserted into the pons to freeze the tumor in small traces of freeze medications being applied and artificial growth of the human body by excessive amounts of growth hormones. The tumor would stay small while the pons would grow at alarming rates? Drilling a small hole into the head and insertions of needle to freeze and allow growth for the good tissue? Hope this helps? Freezing just enough not to freeze other areas? God bless you, Sincerely Heath Puckett of San Bernadino ca USA
Pretty sure that no medical professional would be willing to risk their license trying to freeze selected brain tissue through a permanent hole in a boy’s head. Brain tissue does not grow back like skin, and even if it did, a person’s identity and sense of self is tied up in the tissue being destroyed. Even if any of this were possible, ethical, and/or legal, the boy that comes out the other end of this treatment would be permanently immobilized by his treatment, and would likely be a mental vegetable with no self-awareness or capacity to interact with others. Brain tumors aren’t plantar warts. You can’t treat them both the same way.