A 6-year-old boy from Hiram, Georgia, recently lost his battle with cancer—but he got his final wish fulfilled.
Brantley Dobbs died Wednesday, Dec. 6, from a tumor on his brain stem that could not be removed or stopped. But through it all, he was smiling and in good spirits.
His story soon went viral. The Dobbs family wanted to experience the joy of the festive season together before Christmas. “It would make such a dim time for our family so much brighter,” she told Alive11. By Halloween, the house was decked out in red and green.
The family had a wish hoping for a few people to send Christmas ornaments to Brantley to cheer him up—the response they got was nothing short of amazing.
As kind people from around the world heard the wish, they gave hope to the family—one ornament at a time.
Just after a week of the story going public, the house was starting to fill up with cards and gifts. Ornaments arrived from nearly every state in the United States including a card from Vietnam, messages from Japan students, and even ornaments from London and Paris.
Kind strangers brought so much joy to the house. Brantley would laugh and smile as he helped the family open the huge stacks of boxes. He told Alive11 that he could feel the love behind each of the items.
“I love all of them,” Brantley told Alive11.
Nurses and staff from the Hospice Atlanta helped sort the thousands of packages and delivered them to Brantley’s home.
The mother said everyone’s kindness showed how there is still goodness in people around the world.
“It showed us how Brantley touched so many lives and that means more than we can say.” She told Alive11, “So many people sent love our way when we needed it most, thank you.”
Following Brantley’s passing, the hospice released this following statement obtained by Fox5.
“Brantley’s family sends their heartfelt gratitude for all of the love and support sent their way. The death of a child, especially at this time of year, is incredibly daunting. Please continue sending them love and light thru your thoughts and prayers.”
The Dobbs family wants to continue the love as they plan to share the ornaments with other sick children in Brantley’s honor.
