8-year-old boy with terminal cancer sees LOTR early

[IronParrot]

This is the most heartwarming news I've read in a long time.

http://www.nationalpost.com/home/sto...08/822526.html

Special screening two days before world premiere
Ontario boy with terminal cancer gets Lord of the Rings sneak preview

Heather Sokoloff
National Post

This morning, an eight-year-old boy dying of cancer will be one of the first people in the world to see Lord of the Rings in a special advance screening in his hometown of Peterborough, Ont.

It is a Christmas wish come true for James Birrell, who is in the final stages of a devastating disease called neuroblastoma. Tumours that originally attacked his nervous system have spread throughout his body.

James and his family will see the film before the world premiere slated for Monday in London, England.

The movie, expected to be one of the season's blockbusters, will be released worldwide on Dec. 19.

James is currently reading J.R.R. Tolkien's 1,800-page, three-volume classic for the third time.

James identifies with Frodo, the main character in The Lord of the Rings.

Frodo, a hobbit, embarks on a long and dangerous journey to the land of Mordor to destroy a ring of immense power while being pursued by dark forces.

The special screening will be held at a theatre in Peterborough this morning. Exactly how it was arranged is a mystery to James and his father, Syd Birrell.

"You can't just let copies of the film go out of sight these days. They are guarded like gold, so I have no idea how they did it," said Mr. Birrell from Peterborough last night, while making last-minute adjustments to a padded, reclining wheelchair James will sit in to watch the movie.

The family will be accompanied by 100 friends and supporters.

Alliance Atlantis, the Canadian distributor, declined to comment yesterday but confirmed the screening was taking place.

In the last few days, James has been adjusting his pain medication so he can tolerate the trip and stay alert and comfortable for a few hours.

His condition has deteriorated so much he could not make the two-hour trip to Toronto on Dec. 14 to see the film premiere and meet the actors. He is too fragile for his parents to plan ahead more than a day or two at a time, Mr. Birrell said.

But his usual calm manner is steadying the terrified adults around him.

About a year ago, friends created a Web site, www.jamesbirrell.ca, to raise money for neuroblastoma research.

His family wrote about James' life, and there have been so many people interested in his story Mr. Birrell sends out regular e-mail updates on his son to tens of thousands of people around the world, including Hollywood actor Tom Hanks, who called the family one day out of the blue to talk to James and wish him well.

Every day, the Birrells get messages from people who say James changed their lives after they read about him.

Through the Web site, the family has raised more than $125,000 for neuroblastoma research, funding two ongoing research projects. In January, James's fund will sponsor a symposium on the deadly disease, bringing together top doctors, researchers and pharmaceutical companies from around the country.

"When you see what this disease does to the children, it makes you passionate about wanting to find a cure. We don't want any other child to go through this," Mr. Birrell said.

James has been near death more than six times since he was diagnosed with cancer at the age of four. Each time, he managed to beat the odds, even bouncing back after cardiac arrest.

In June, he relapsed again, when the cancer moved to his brain.

Though his family was praying James would amaze the world and become the first child to survive relapse neuroblastoma, they accepted that the experimental treatments are no longer working and his aggressive therapies stopped this fall.

He again amazed his doctors by living to compete in his town's annual soap box derby race in September, using a padded cart designed by an aeronautical engineer.

James entered the final stages of his disease in the last two weeks.

On Dec. 8, his father wrote on the Web site:

"Amidst the great sorrow of our last days with James has been much of beauty and peace. Today was day eight of what we know deep in our hearts is the final run.

"How strange it is to be past the time where a new symptom galvanized us into adrenaline charged action, where you fought tooth and nail for another reprieve.

"Now we have even dropped regular bloodwork, for we can no longer reasonably act on the information so gained."