A young cancer patient received 100,000 birthday cards after his mother requested for it from strangers around the world.
Daniel Nickerson is from Foxboro, Massachusetts and he reached an emotional milestone on Friday when he turned six after being diagnosed of an inoperable brain tumor in October. Nickerson visited the Gillette Stadium where the NFL Patriots team practiced but his biggest birthday wish was simply to receive some mail.
"He just loves getting mail, he's always running to the mailbox," Nickerson's aunt, Gail Chamberlin said. "I gave him the key to the PO Box. He was so excited when he opened it." This had her putting an appeal on a local newspaper for birthday cards. His friends and family launched a social media campaign that went viral and brought the birthday boy hundreds of cards at the Foxborough post office. Their efforts also led to an invitation to the Patriots' camp. Team owner Robert Kraft gave Daniel a personalized jersey for his birthday. The jersey had his name "Danny" and age, number 6 on the back. Nickerson huddled with Tom Brady and the whole team and the highlight of Saturday's practice was the birthday song.
Nickerson has been thrown a couple of birthday parties before he got a shoutout from pop superstar Justin Bieber who posted his photo on Instagram with a caption "Nickerson's 6th birthday and a message: "Happy Birthday Danny! Much Love, Justin Bieber. #happybirthdaydanny stay strong."
Nickerson's family also visited Legoland. He also received Easter cards from Magical Fairy Missions, a charity which supports children who fight brain cancer. Nickerson was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma which is one of the most resistant cancers to chemotherapy. The disease has less than 10 percent of survival beyond 18 months following diagnosis. Nickerson stopped going to kindergarten. His most recent exam showed that chemotherapy stabilized the growth of the tumor. It did not grow but did not shrink either. Nickerson will undergo chemotherapy every two weeks for his whole life.
People who want to send him more mails can send it to: Daniel Nickerson, PO Box 212, Foxboro, MA 02035.
Many people also donated to the GoFundMe page to help Nickerson's family pay for his treatment's daily expenses. Its initial aim was to raise $15,000 but the amount received has so far reached more than double that goal.
