A dying child was made an honorary fireman by the Phoenix Fire Department.
Though the story circulated in e-mail identifies the dying child as 'Billy' instead of by his actual name, this Internet tale is a relatively truthful, if overwritten, account. It's also (with the exception of the child's name) lifted word-for-word from the original Chicken Soup for the Soulbook.Not that we're going to swear that all Chicken Soup stories are necessarily true, but this one is. In 1981, Frank 'Bopsy' Salazar, a 7-year-old dying of leukemia, became the first 'wish child' helped by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This boy from Phoenix had three wishes: to be a fireman, to ride in a hot air balloon, and to go to Disneyland. He ultimately achieved all three; the fulfillment of his first wish, the fireman one, was described by the Make-A-Wish Foundation in their account of events:The Phoenix Fire Department made sure Bopsy had an experience truly befitting a fireman - making him the first honorary fireman in Phoenix history. A full uniform, complete with a yellow coat and a helmet, was custom made just for him. Bopsy scrambled around the back of Engine 9's ladder truck, and turned on the horn. Following the ride, he doused a few cars with water from a 75-pound hose. At the end of the day, Bopsy was pinned with an official firefighter's badge.Bopsy went on to experience his hot-air balloon ride and a trip to Disneyland. While in Anaheim, he was treated with every courtesy a visiting fireman could wish for from his Southern California colleagues, including being chauffeured to and from the Los Angeles airport in a fire truck and escorted around the park by two of his fellow firefighters from the Anaheim fire department.As for the more fantastic claim made in the e-mail - that Phoenix fireman climbed through the child's hospital window on the night Bopsy died - this too holds true. It was only five firemen instead of the sixteen of the Chicken Soup version, but they did indeed park the hook and ladder below his window, then climb up the ladder and into his room:Bopsy's condition worsened not long after returning from California, and he had to return to the hospital. As he slept in his third floor room, someone suddenly knocked on his window and opened it, and in came five of his fellow Phoenix firemen. They had parked their ladder truck below. As his colleagues continued to crawl through the window, Bopsy - now fully awake - could not contain his laughter. Bopsy shared a few laughs and stories with his friends before going back to sleep, with a smile on his face. Later that evening, Bopsy passed away - but not before seeing all three of his fondest wishes come true.Barbara 'fireman, walk with me' MikkelsonAdditional information: Bopsy, The Littlest Firefighter (Phoenix.gov)
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