MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WTVF) — A 10-year-old boy has been through an often difficult, often painful year. Middle Tennessee is making three wishes happen for one tough kid.
For the nearly 75 years it's been on air, the letters for Murfreesboro’s WGNS Radio have stood for Good Neighbor Station. Scott and Josie Walker run the place and believe when you have a platform, you use it for kindness.
“Me and my husband are both people who serve others," said Josie Walker.
“It means being out there in the community, being out there on the street, working with people, talking to people,” said Scott Walker.
Serving people is what led them to 10-year-old James Grant, a selfless kid always thinking about his family. His mom, Kelly Hall, said James started hurting at the end of last year.
“Every day he got worse," said Hall.
“My leg was hurting too bad," James said. "Yeah, that’s how I knew.”
Doctors diagnosed James with stage four cancer, Ewing's sarcoma.
“Ohhh, it’s not something you expect to hear them say," said Hall. “I told him, 'buddy, it’s nobody’s fault. It's not yours. It's not mine. It's nobody's. God gives his strongest battles to his strongest people.' He said, 'OK, I’m strong.' I said, 'OK, you be strong for me, and I’ll be strong for you.'”
That good neighbor radio station thought they could do something, starting with granting James three wishes. Wish one was getting to ride in a Lamborghini. Even then, James was thinking of his family.
“He said, 'let’s stop there. I wanna get brownies and slushies for everybody at home,'” Scott Walker remembered.
“So they won’t feel left out," James chimed in.
Wish two was to ride in a limo. Now comes wish three.
“He wanted to be able to take his family shopping," said Scott Walker.
“Cause it’s nice," said James.
Since James can’t get out shopping, WGNS has posted an Amazon wish list where people can donate gifts to James and his family.
In a living room where family surrounds James, you can see kindness. It comes in a signed pillow.
“My teacher gave that to me," James said, showing a pillow with signatures from classmates on it.
The kindness also comes in a sister and a dad both shaving their heads in solidarity with James.
“She always does something for me," James said, looking at his sister's shaved head.
This kindness from new friends and from so many people they've never met is nearly overwhelming for a family.
“There’s hope in the world for how people are," said James' father, also named James Grant.
“Every single day he wakes up and fights," said Hall. "I couldn’t do it. I don’t think I can be strong like him and worry about everyone else.”
When you have a platform, you use it for kindness. That’s why James would like to take this moment to say something.
“Don’t be negative. Be positive," James said with a smile.
If you'd like to contribute to the Amazon gift list for James, visit here. If you'd like to give to the family's GoFundMe, visit here.
