I’m putting today’s blog post on hold after receiving this email yesterday. A dear friend sent this to me, and I’ve done some digging to see if this situation is really true. I wish it wasn’t. This is what she wrote;
Dr Tom Curran is a radio personality, and he is in the process of setting up a 24 hour (live) online Rosary where people around the world can meet together online and pray. One of the prayer requests last night was for a family in Michigan where 5 year Noah is in the final stages of his 2.5 year battle with Neuroblastoma…a particularly vicious form of childhood cancer with a 0% chance of survival. (If you’ve read the amazing book Gloria’s Miracle you know how ruthless this disease really is.)
Well, Noah is probably not going to make it to Christmas so the family is going to celebrate the holiday this coming weekend. Apparently, Noah likes Christmas Cards and receiving things in the mail. The request was sent out to have people flood their mailbox with Christmas Cards encouraging Noah in his final struggle! If you could take a moment to send him a Christmas Card in the next few days, it would really be appreciated!
The news about Noah’s early Christmas has spread through a number of radio stations. This is Noah. I can’t help but tear up when I see that smile.
Noah’s address is below. It was given to the Catholic radio show as well as many other blogs.
Noah Biorkman
1141 Fountain View Circle
South Lyon, MI 48178
The kids and I are going to work on Christmas cards for Noah, and I thought I’d pass Noah’s story along if you felt inclined to do the same. My friend had a wonderful idea of including some money for the parents. Money won’t take the pain away, but I’m sure it would help them feel supported. Who knows what kind of financial stress they are facing with all the medical bills. Or maybe a card just to Noah’s mom. This is an amazing community of passionate mothers, and I know that when we hold each other up, we are so much stronger together. I believe her name is Diana Biorkman.
Honestly, I can’t imagine what they are going through, and I wish there was something more we could all do. I wish we lived closer to offer a photo session to Noah and his family. But we have such an amazing community here, and if any of you live in South Lyon, MI or in the surrounding area, and feel a tug in your heart to try this idea–I think it would be amazing and your photos would offer an incredible gift. Or we could spread the word by posting it Noah’s story on more blogs today. If you think of something else we can do as a community, post a comment today.
If nothing else, thank you so much for keeping Noah and his family in your prayers. To read more about this precious boy, click here.
If Diana happens to read this post;
Diana, we are all praying for your family and especially sweet Noah. I can’t imagine what your heart is going through. I can’t imagine all the questions, emotions, helplessness, and incredible, unwavering love for your little one. I pray that you feel God surround you with His comfort. That when you feel too weak, too afraid–you feel a presence holding you up, carrying you. That when you lie down at night next to Noah, and hold him as only his mother can, you both hear songs of comfort being sung all around you in the whispers of the night. And somehow, in some mysterious way, you feel God cover you with his blanket of love and healing. And when there is nothing anyone can say or do, and the darkness feels too real to bear another day, I pray that you feel His comfort in the dark. If there is anything we can do, please let us know. My email is mera@fioria.us.
Much love, Me Ra
Me Ra Thank you so deeply for sharing this with us. I am going to make cards with my girls today and also send one to mom and dad. There are really no words to express how this touches my heart and how I wish I could take their pain away. I can not even imagine… Thank you to the person who emailed this to you as well…bless their heart. I will keep this family in our thoughts and prayers. Much love to everyone. xo
Me Ra – Thank you so much for sharing this – We will send cards & some little gifts today too….We will hold them in our thoughts and prayers. xoxo – j
I think this is a hoax. I know South Lyon and Fountain Circle is literally a street that circles a fountain. There are No houses or even any businesses on Fountain Circle. Sorry, but you cards are going to be delivered to a statue
I’m from MI as well but I don’t know the South Lyon area. But if you google/bing the address it looks like an apartment/condo complex. But our local country radio station is also collecting cards on behalf of the family. They can also be mailed to:
Noah Biorkman
c/o 99.5 WYCD
2201 Woodward Heights Blvd.
Ferndale, MI 48220-1511
Has anyone contacted acpcg.org? I know there are a number of MI photographers that donate their services. I’m not quite to the professional level yet.
Tazer, snopes has also verified the story: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/medical/biorkman.asp
My heart is breaking for this family. We will definitely be praying for them and will send cards. And I will link to this on my blog too.
Thank you for sharing this MeRa.
What a heart wrenching story! Thanks for sharing the information for this family.
Tears in my eyes. ={ Oh goodness, thanks for sharing Me Ra. Bless this family, Bugga will definitely be coloring on a card today.
I just finished reading several entries on their care page.
The address MeRa listed in the post is Noah’s mom’s address. Her name is indeed Diana and she said she and Noah live with her mom also. She also gave Noah’s dad’s address: Scott Biorkman, 3480 Petoskey Way Milford, Michigan 48380
There is a news story about them here: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/21522646/detail.html
Here is a quote from her most recent update: This is the hardest thing that we have had to deal with on a daily basis and the packages and cards and messages have been a great distraction for all four of us (my mom is included in this group as she lives with me).
Praise God that He gives us the opportunity to come together in unity to minister to this family who live across the USA.
Off to write some letters!
i actually grew up in south lyon and had been looking for homes in the area. i know for a fact that fountain view is a condo complex and that there are homes there. so tazer is wrong in saying that they will be delivered to a statue. i am in the military and have asked everyone i know to send this little boy a card. i am hoping that some of my friends that are overseas will send him one too. if i had known about this sooner, i would have tried to contact his mother to see if we could do some christmas caroling outside thier home and had santa pay him a visit. i have soo many ideas to make it his best christmas ever!! it’s so sad to see such a young child go through this.
Me Ra – Here is his carepages:
https://www.carepages.com/carepages/NoahScottBiorkman
They are celebrating Christmas THIS WEEKEND!
Thanks for making a little boys Christams special!
Wow, you guys are AMAZING. Your ideas are incredible, and your willingness to help brought tears to my eyes. This is a powerful community. I’m so proud to be a part of all of you.
Keep the ideas coming. Is it to late to find a Santa Claus? Wouldn’t that be amazing.
If you make any headway, keep us updated!
I can not imagine the heartache..it takes my breat away to fathom the depth of loss and longing. If anyone wants to forward this story to your facebook page. Go to the link that Rhonda posted-
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/21522646/detail.ht There’s an apt to forward to fb and etc. Let’s bless this family even if it is in a small way. Thanks for always loving and thinking of others MeRa. Gonna go hug my kids, hold them tight, thank the Lord for the time we have and break out the crayola’s.
Hi! I am a professional photographer based in Grand Rapids, MI. I would be more than honored to photograph this family! I know that I would want images of my babe if anything were to happen…if you know how I can contact the family directly please let me know so I can help!
blessings,
kellyb.
Kelly, you are so kind to offer your photography. I have no idea how to connect with them via phone or email. I’ve only been able to find their home address. Maybe the Care Pages that people have linked in our comments have an email contact for his mom.
Does anyone else know how Kelly could get connected with them? Kelly, you must keep us updated if you find a way. Thank you so much!
Me Ra,
Santa is covered. The news article says that Santa and the South Lyon fire department will be making a visit.
Kelly you may want to contact the tv station or the radio station. They may be able to put you in touch with the family. Or atleast relay a message.
The crayons are on the table, time to put them to good use.
Oh this breaks my heart and will squeeze my kids extra hard tonight. I can’t imagine. 🙁 My son wants to put in some Transformer stickers for him. Thanks for sharing this with us MeRa.
Hi Me Ra,
We will send a card. We lost a very dear friend to Neuroblastoma (3 year old Ben Towne)…one thing though, the survival rate is not 0%, people do beat this, just not very often.
Thanks
Jen
pray for Logan who is beating this cancer right now!
http://loganjameslewis.blogspot.com/
Children of any age with Stage 1 Neuroblastoma have a cure rate greater than 90%.
Long-term survival in Stage 2 patients over the age of 1 year can range from 75% to 90%, depending on the age of the child and the success of the treatments administered.
Patients with Stage 2B or 3 Neuroblastoma over the age of 1 year have a survival rate of approximately 50% to 70%. Those younger than 1 year of age have a cure rate of around 80%.
Patients with Stage 4 or 4S Neuroblastoma under the age of 1year tend to have a cure rate of 50% to 80%. Those patients over the age of 1 year have a cure rate of 10% to 40%.
I first learned of this horrible disease a few years ago when Ben Towne was diagnosed with it. Little Ben was born around the same time as Ty and I knew some of his family through church. Anyway, little Ben changed the world in the short time he was here. Watching his family suffer the incredible loss of this child changed me forever… forever. I just cannot bear the thought of another family losing another little boy…. tears tonight… many many tears….
Kelly, you can send a message through their care page. It’s kind of like a blog. And here is the email address listed on that care page: biorkmandl@pella.com
I was wondering if anyone knows if the family has an email address that I can send Noah a fun Christmas card. I just found out about him and it won’t get there in time.
I have made my childrens school aware of noah and every classroom and every child is making noah a christmas card so we figured there are 25 class rooms with 21 to 30 students in each class that is a lot of cards has anyone thought about the guiness world record for the most collected christmas cards that would be a great record to have in noahs honor
This was posted on Noah’s caring pages this morning…WOW.
Hello Everyone!
What a week! Scott and I have had a hard time wrapping our brain around how much support and compassion we have received from people all around the world!!! Noah was the 17th most googled topic on Thursday and 12th on Friday!! Unbelievable!!!!!!!
Thank you to everyone for the support! Thank you to everyone that listened to my requests for peace. Thank you to Mindy for setting up security for my front door today!! Thank you to the South Lyon Police, Fire, and Post Office for the help and support over the past week. Today was the first day that I could relax. We had a person sitting out front guarding the door. My family and I didn’t have to worry about whether the person walking up was going to knock or ring the doorbell. Yes, I do have a sign on the door.
I just wanted to note something interesting. Last Saturday, I posted a little note on this carepage — it said that we were celebrating Christmas this week. If you would like to send Noah a card, send me an email and I will give you my address!! Our friends and family have repeatedly asked us for something to do to help. Asking for a Christmas card was something simple that many people could do. They posted it on Facebook and BAMMMMM!!!!!!! Next thing I know, we are receiving thousands of cards and packages. Tuesday — 64, Wednesday — 416, Thursday — 2,600, Friday — 5,100 and Saturday — ??????? At least 10,000. Yes, you read that right — at least 10,000.
We are opening and reading each and every card. This is taking some time. It is just humbling, shocking, incredible, astounding… the outpouring of love for one sick little boy.
Friday night, Noah loved meeting Santa. He wasn’t so sure about the fire truck or Santa coming on the fire truck. We waved from the balcony. Noah feels safe in my bedroom. That’s where he spends most of his time. He wouldn’t come out of the bedroom so Santa went in. He sat on the floor and opened presents with Noah, Scott, and I. Then I went out to make sure everyone was doing well and Santa sat right next to Noah. Noah wrapped his arms around Santa’s neck and wouldn’t let go.
The smile on his face was worth it. He smiled from ear to ear.
Saturday, Noah loved opening presents and let me tell you — there isn’t a shortage of them!! We had a crew at the house and he would pick which person he wanted to play with and that person went into the bedroom and played. When he had enough, he would sleep. We decided to have Santa come on Friday for two reasons. 1.) Santa needed to have time to get back to the North Pole. 2.) Noah needed a day of rest between the big events.
Today was a very merry Christmas! Noah, my mom, and I woke to a Christmas tree in our front yard, fully decorated with wrapped presents underneath. Noah thought that was the coolest thing. Again — the smile said it all. He spent most of the day in my bedroom. No shocker there! He was stingy with his happy face today. He slept quite a bit and he seems to be hurting again.
Noah is having pain in the left elbow and upper body. This is all new pain. However, he’s stubborn as a mule and won’t let me give him any IV pain meds. We keep increasing his Methadone which we did on Friday. That hasn’t seemed to help much. You can see the difference in him. You can see him slowing down. You can see him in pain and just plain getting tired. He’s just at that point.
No matter how hard this is or how painful it is, Scott, my family, and I can say one thing — Noah had Christmas today. And for that, I am grateful.
Merry Christmas Everyone! The world helped make it special for Noah, my family, Scott, and myself. I can guarantee one thing — This week was a week that none of us will ever forget.
Thanks
[…] Christmas Cards for a Five Year Old Boy: Meet Noah Biorkman . I’m putting today’s blog post on hold after receiving this email yesterday. A dear friend sent this to me, and I’ve done some digging to see if this situation is really true. … I think this is a hoax . I know South Lyon and Fountain Circle is literally a street that circles a fountain. There are No houses or even any businesses on Fountain Circle. Sorry, but you cards are going to be delivered to a statue …Read More… […]
Noah passed away on 11/23/09, RIP little buddy.
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