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By Ron Jeffers
Lil Ryu, 5, is a resident of Little Ferry, New Jersey, and tells his parents that he wants to be a fireman someday. Lil was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma, a rare form of eye cancer, when he was three. Battling metastatic retinoblastoma since 2016, doctors say the best option for him is enucleation of his left eye to remove three tumors they discovered.
Ridgefield (NJ) Firefighter John LaFalce, a member of Pink Heals of Bergen County, heard about the child’s fate and wanted to do something special for the boy who wants to be a fireman.
In a matter of a week, local and out-of-area fire and EMS units converged to a parking lot on the cold Sunday afternoon of March 12th to give this boy a treat. Fire apparatus and ambulances paraded up to Lil’s home and stopped to present him with fire department related gifts, including a uniform with his name on it. He became an honorary firefighter. Then, a ride in a fire truck to Littler Ferry Hook & Ladder Co. 1’s firehouse with his parents. There, he received a fire department T-shirt and stood by with his parents for a fire truck parade.
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Despite the weatherman’s report of a “reel feel” temperature of 8 degrees, a long line of fire apparatus, rescue trucks, and ambulances passed by a bundled up Lil, with sirens blasting and firefighters waiving. The parade was led by two Pink Heals chief cars. One of those cars was occupied by Ridgefield Firefighter Ryan Handschin, of Company 3, who is a cancer survivor.
After the parade, all units parked in nearby lots and their members stopped at the firehouse to pose for photos with Lil and enjoyed refreshments inside a nice warm firehouse. Lil’s father said he was impressed by the actions of the first responders and saw how the fire service is also one big family.
Fire department and EMS units that participated came from Ridgefeld, Ridgefield Park, South Hackensack, Lodi, Edgewater, Moonachie, River Edge, Demarest, Fort Lee, Budd Lake, Hawthorne, and Stillwater.
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