West Knox, Lily firefighters give cancer patient ride of his life

A local firefighter received the support of his fellow firefighters to make his 3-year-old son’s dreams come true when he was brought home from the hospital Friday where he had been receiving treatment to combat cancer.

Three-year-old Christian Young and his mother, Kristi, got a ride from the West Knox Fire Department during the final leg of his trip home from the University of Kentucky Medical Center Friday, where he has been undergoing treatment for cancer.

Mike Young, a six-year veteran of the West Knox Fire Department, had arranged with West Knox and Lily firefighters to meet the family in London.

Christian, who was frequently seen around the West Knox fire station with his dad, wanted to ride home in a fire truck.

With Chief Darryl Baker driving, Christian was put into the passenger seat of one of the department’s pumpers and escorted down U.S. 25 and on to home in Gray by the other trucks.

“Mike had called me and told me that Christian was wanting to ride home in a fire truck,” Baker said. “I would have driven the truck all the way to Lexington and back if I needed to.”

Young said Christian had been at UK since March 2.

The child was initially taken to the hospital for what was initially believed to be a stomach bug and then possibly his appendix.

“They found a large mass,” Young said of the results of tests run at Baptist Health Corbin.

The mass was diagnosed as stage three kidney cancer, known as a Wilms tumor.

Christian will continue to receive chemotherapy.

Young said Christian has been around the firefighters and the department since the day he was born.

“When we left the hospital, we went over to watch the fireworks at the fire department,” Young said. “It is really a place that he knows.”

Young said when Christian sees one of the bright green West Knox fire trucks, he refers to them as, “my fire trucks.”

“Everybody at West Knox knows him and loves him to death,” Young said.