There’s no right or wrong way to feel when you’re told you have a terminal illness – a health condition that you’ll most likely die from. You might feel numb at first, and unable to take in the news, or feel calm and matter-of-fact about dying. Hearing that your illness cannot be cured can be a frightening experience. Many people will be unable to take everything in. If you’re alone in the consultation, ask if you can bring a relative or friend in to hear everything the doctor has to say.
To some it may just be a car, but to 15-year-old Coleman it meant the world. The 15-year-old boy is a bit of an old soul in that he wanted his first car to be a classic. Diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, the search proved to be a welcomed distraction. He scoured Craigslist and Facebook before finding exactly what he wanted not far from his home in Parma: a 1964 Mercury Monterey project car for $1500. The young teenager battling an inoperable brain tumor got his dream ride after a body shop manager and other local businesses stepped in to help. Coleman, knowing the Mercury needed some TLC and expecting to work on it himself, learned from his father that Reynolds would be picking up the car instead.
Progress on the Monterey, which Coleman has nicknamed Maria, has been steady, as has the chemotherapy treatment required to fight Cole’s brain tumor. Coleman says fate brought him and Maria together, and perhaps fate also led Reynolds to become involved. He just happens to work at Harold’s Auto Body, whose owner also agree to get involved. After giving the car a once-over and realizing it needed a lot more than body work, Reynolds suggested contacting the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Coleman refused.
Reynolds was so floored by Cole’s selfless attitude that he took it upon himself to ask the Parma community for assistance. He also created a GoFundMe page, which to date has raised $8741 of a $20,000 goal. “It will mean everything in the world to me,” he says of the car, which Reynolds hopes is finished sometime in September. “And it will mean everything in the world for me to give something back to people.”