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Tales from the Battlefield Called Life
Tim Tebow Visits Boy Battlin' Cancer
LAKE WORTH, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - About the same time we show up to meet 8-year-old Blake Appleton, so does his former kindergarten teacher, with books in hand.
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Everyone seems to know just how precious time is for Blake, especially his mother, Miranda.
"Without treatment, he my only have 6 months," said Miranda Appleton.
If you think little Blake doesn't realize mom is talking about how long he has to live, you're wrong. As unbelievable as it may sound, his mom tells us not only does he understand that he is very sick with brain cancer and has a zero chance of recovery, but he also seems to want desperately to help his mother accept his fate.
Miranda tells us of the day Blake told her he no longer wanted to be treated for cancer.
"We're in the restroom of all place, and he starts to cry. I asked him why he was crying, and he told me, 'Mommy, I don't want you to be unhappy with me, but I don't want to do anymore chemo. I can't handle it anymore.'"
Blake acknowledges that his reasons are private, but during our time with him, we learn he is happy to finally be out of bed, playing, laughing, and not in a hospital.
And Miranda tells us, after long talks with his doctors, he told them the same.
Doctors diagnosed Blake with a brain tumor in 2008, and after two incredibly misleading and painfully temporary remissions, years of chemotherapy and surgery, the cancer came back with a vengeance, spreading to his spine.
Doctors told his mother and Blake that it is now untreatable.
Miranda tells us, "I don't have time to cry. It might be a moment I'm missing with him."
And one of those moments has to do with Blake's love of Tim Tebow and football. He proudly showed us a football ball signed by the former Florida Gator and current Denver Broncos quarterback. He then he proudly explained how Tim Tebow called him on December 1st and what the two discussed.
Blake says, "He told me he was going to meet me. That's about it!!"
So will Tebow make a visit? Maybe.
But in the meantime, we asked this young boy, who seems to be wise beyond his eight years, what his Christmas wish might be, bracing ourselves for a wish possibly unattainable.
But instead, we got, "More shoes!"
We're not certain how Tim Tebow heard of Blake, but if you caught Tebow in a post-game interview this past Sunday, you would have seen him tell a reporter his most memorable moment of the week was talking with Blake Appleton.