Town Rallies to Host Christmas in October for 7-Year-Old Boy
Christmas came early to 7-year-old Evan Leversage, who has terminal brain cancer: His town of St. George in Ontario, Canada, came together to celebrate the holiday with him on Saturday.
Evan has an inoperable brain tumor, which was diagnosed five years ago. Last September, doctors said the cancer had spread and that Christmas 2015 will likely be his last.
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About 7,000 people joined the celebration — more than double the population of the small town, according to Canada’s CBC News — which kicked off with a 25-float parade through town on Saturday evening. Evan had the best seat in the parade, sitting right next to Santa Claus in his sleigh.
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The event all started with Evan’s relative, Shelly Wellwood, who posted a flyer in the town asking for help. “I wanted him to get a chance to experience Christmas,” she told ABC News. “I made up a flyer just seeing if we could get some local support to put lights up and bring him Christmas.”
A local flower shop saw the flyer and posted about it on Facebook — and it went viral from there. “I organized a get-together downtown to decorate Main Street,” Brandy King from the La Petit Fleur flower shop told ABC News. “All the local businesses got their windows decorated so it looks like Christmas on Main Street.”
A snow machine helped create a wintery wonderland around Evan’s house, along with carolers, while local residents organized a toy drive to give presents to the boy and his two brothers.
Evan’s mother, Nicole Wellwood, told Canada’s CTV News that she’s still “speechless” over the incredible support and generosity of her town. “It honestly was an amazing experience and I think that it proved how incredible people can be,” she said.
She added: “I knew a lot of people have always rallied behind Evan, but the attention this got has honestly been just insane. It tells me that there’s a lot of truly amazing people out there. This goes beyond a community … this is worldwide now.”
Wellwood, who couldn’t be reached by Yahoo Parenting for comment, told CTV News that her son was amazed by the Christmas celebration and that his favorite moments were meeting the character Spongebob Squarepants and riding in Santa’s sleigh.
“He honestly was just all smiles,” she said. “In all those pictures (of him on the sleigh) he’s waving and smiling and so happy. He realized then, at that moment, how many people truly love him.”
(Photo: Mark Blinch/Reuters)
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