Terminally ill youngster treated to a lockdown birthday drive-by
A COLOURFUL array of army vehicles, supercars and even a fire engine turned out for a dazzling drive-by celebration of a terminally ill Ringwood boy’s 12th birthday.
Jon Tarrant-Heckford loves waving to cars from his front garden, so mum Lorraine thought a cavalcade passing by the family home in Southampton Road would be an ideal way to mark his big day, while sticking to lockdown rules.
She asked friend Jim Stride, who runs a Ringwood Facebook page, if he could help. He put out a call to members expecting around 20 people to answer.
But on the big day both Lorraine and Jim were astonished when over 130 vehicles turned up.
Watching from the pavement with Lorraine and dad Steve, Jon smiled, waved and shouted as the cars drove past honking their horns.
Lorraine said: “He had this huge beaming smile on his face throughout and you could see his absolute joy. He loved seeing all the different vehicles, the colours, hearing the noise.
“He enjoyed it so much and I cannot thank everyone who turned out enough.
“There were even motorcycles, cyclists and people walking who all joined in. It was all out of his world. Our neighbours all came out to enjoy it and they are still talking about it now.
“It was just such a wonderful thing to happen in these difficult times.”
Jon suffers from a rare genetic condition called Sanfilippo syndrome with which he was diagnosed just before his fourth birthday. It means he can no longer speak, has difficulty walking and is not expected to live beyond his teens.
Lorraine added: “Jon has taught us so much about love and joy. He takes such pleasure in everyday things like looking at a beautiful blue sky, or a flower.
“Having to isolate throughout Covid-19 has been difficult and this gave us, as a family, such a huge boost. It was wonderful to see Ringwood all be there for Jon.
"The whole thing was videoed and you can see Jon's huge beaming smile – to be able to watch it when Jon is no longer here will be so lovely for us."
Jim said: “It was amazing to see them all arrive, it was just such a fantastic response. We even had a Waitrose delivery van join which then stopped to present Jon with a birthday cake and present.
“I think the response shows what a fantastic community Ringwood has. We really did Jon proud.”
