Five-year-old escorted around San Marco after completing chemotherapy

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department escorted 5-year-old Liam Tuten around San Marco following the completion of his chemotherapy treatment.

The ride stretched approximately a mile and a half with Liam riding on his mom’s lap in the passenger seat of a bright red, top-down Ferrari.

Liam was admitted to Nemours Children’s Health in Jacksonville back in September after doctors discovered he had a rare, aggressive brain tumor. He spent the better part of eight months at the hospital, undergoing several surgeries and three bone marrow transplants.

While in recovery, Dreams Come True Senior Manager of Medical Outreach and Mission Delivery, Ashley Smith, says that Liam would often spend his time looking out of his hospital window at all of the fast cars. This led to JSO, JFRD, and Dreams Come True banding together to surprise Liam with his very own Ferrari ride.

But between a Ferrari and a tractor, Liam says he would still choose a tractor.

Liam’s family comes from Waycross, Georgia. His country accent is strong, and he spoke with us about how much he loves all of his farm animals. He says he’s most excited to see his horses.

“Dogs, cats, pigs,” Liam said. “I love all kinds of animals.”

Liam says that when he grows up, he wants to be a farmer.

Smith says that over the past eight months, she’s spent a lot of time with Liam. She says that he is “quite the Renaissance” man.

“He’s not into typical things that kids are into — no superheroes, anything like that,” Smith said. “But he has a deep love for his family, and he’s gonna make sure that you know that his mom is the ‘purdiest’ every time.”

JSO Chief Ellis Burns says that as a father, it was incredibly heartwarming to see Liam and his parents make their way around San Marco.

“It’s a great day, they get to go home, take the little boy home and be healthy and try to get some normalcy back to their life,” Burns said. “Getting back to farming again, I’m sure he’s ready to feed up.”

The ride was made possible through the partnership between JSO, JFRD and Dreams Come True. Operations we’re quickly put together through the help of JSO Chief Ellis Burns and Strategic Communications Executive Vic Micolucci.