A three-year-old locomotive fanatic who was diagnosed with cancer could not contain his excitement when he got to ride a steam train from Plumstead to Simon’s Town.
Little Almon Jack Thomas, aka AJ, from Blue Downs has Wilms Tumour (kidney cancer) which he was diagnosed with at just two months old.
He has since undergone two major operations and is currently receiving chemotherapy.
Mom Deidre Thomas, 30, and dad Almon Buis, 33, says their little boy’s love for trains started while watching Thomas the Train and other train videos on YouTube while in hospital. Even his first word was choo-choo!
Deidre says: “It has been difficult, AJ is our only child so being a new mom and being hit with this critical health issue (was difficult).
“With the first surgery, they had to remove one kidney but it spread to the other one so he had to undergo another operation on 1 April this year but we were not sure if he would make it.”
But AJ survived and yesterday the happy chappy had a glorious day as he was kitted out in his conductor outfit and ran around Plumstead train station for his first train experience.
Once on board, he was up and down the passage, with his family saying “hy gaan lekker moeg slaap vanaand”.
An emotional Deidre said: “We are excited to be here and being able to share this with our son, this will be a core memory we will have forever. He is quite excited and very hyper for one who doesn’t go out.”
The experience was made possible by Reach for a Dream, an organisation that makes memorable experiences possible for kids fighting a life-threatening illnesses.
AJ also received cute fluffy slippers, earphones, a toy, a bag and a bubblegum tablet, and the family was treated to a TukTuk, lunch and ice-cream.
Reach for a Dream volunteer Eleanor Pretorius says: “Every child that is sick needs something to cling to and they’ve got their dream. Their dreams give them that hope to fight and every dream is special.”