NorCal Make-A-Wish grants its 10,000th wish for boy who loves fire trucks
EL DORADO COUNTY — El Dorado County's fire district just swore in its youngest firefighter. He's so little, they had to special order his uniform.
He's a little guy, but I bet you won't underestimate him when you see what he's overcome.
With a big smile and beaming eyes, Magnum's mom Tashina calls him a rough and tumble "joy boy." You'd never know this joy boy spent four of his five years battling a rare bone marrow disorder.
"There were a couple of times during the transplant where I wasn't sure if he was going to make it," Tashina said.
Doctors diagnosed Magnum shortly after his first birthday. It would lead to 21 blood transfusions and then 21 platelet transfusions during a bone marrow transplant.
"I just prayed and I asked god, 'You know, Lord, if it's your will to take him, take him. Don't make him suffer. But if it's your will to keep him here, then heal him quickly because this is so hard,' " Tashina said.
Through it all, there was one thing that always brought a smile: fire engines. Magnum calls them "woo-woos." He even told his mom he wanted to be a woo-woo when he grows up.
The first time we met Magnum, the Make-A-Wish Foundation couldn't turn him into a fire engine, but they promised the next best thing. He got to ride in one as a real-life firefighter with the El Dorado County Fire Protection District.
"It strikes at the core of who we are as firefighters and why we're here," said Fire Chief Tim Cordero. "I mean, this is at the ground level. This is why we do what we do."
It strikes at the core of being a firefighter and a parent.
"I think as parents we overlook the fortune that we have with healthy kids," Tashina said.
Magnum said he wants to be a firefighter because "they help people, they save people."
"After everything that he's been through, just to celebrate the end of everything for him is just wonderful," Tashina said.
Magnum is officially on the road to recovery. He just wrapped up his last monthly blood draw.
What made his wish even more special is that it was the Make-A-Wish Foundation's Northeastern & Central California and Northern Nevada chapter's 10,000th wish, while the chapter celebrates 40 years.
