3-year-old boy diagnosed with rare cancer gets playground wish

The wish of a backyard playground came true for a three-year-old cancer patient on Tuesday afternoon. 

By six months, Shawn Dube of Quispamsis had developed a tumour in his abdomen and was diagnosed with Stage 3 neuroblastoma.

Shawn and his parents couldn't be happier with the new play structure. 

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"My son used to be tied up in a hospital room most of the time," said Sara Dube, Shawn's mother. "But now he's getting the opportunity to play outside and be free, so this is a really special day for us." 

The toddler clambered in and around volunteers from the Saint John Marina as they built a double-decker play structure for him, ducking in and out of the unbuilt pieces.  

"He was diagnosed at six months old," said his father, Jake Dube. "But he has been getting better ever since." 

"He's always got a smile on his face and is jumping around," said Jake Dube. "And when we told him he was getting his wish, his surprise, his jaw just dropped." 

The gift of playground equipment, landscaping, and volunteers was done through the Children's Wish Foundation of Canada, a charity that grants wishes to children diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses.

"He's been through so much," said Kelly Hare, regional director of the Children's Wish Foundation in New Brunswick. "So now he gets to do something that rewards him for what he's done." 

Hare says that any family with ill children can be recommended to the program.