Ayden was only 9 years old when he was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of brain cancer called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG).
It was devastating news for Ayden and his family to receive, as children who are diagnosed with the disease usually die within one year, writes the National Institute of Health in the United States.
But the bad news didn’t stop there. Ayden didn’t just have one tumor but two.
Just like any other parent, Bill tried to do everything in his power to try to save his son, but nothing seemed to help.
When Bill finally accepted the fact that his son wasn’t going to survive, he promised his boy one thing: that he’d do everything he could to make Ayden’s last days on Earth as good as they could be.
He brought Ayden to meet his favorite wrestling heroes, he brought him on hunting trips and he threw him a 10th birthday party.
“We looked at the day, and we looked at how we could make that day the best we could,” Ayden’s mother, Jennifer Zeigler, told Public Opinion.
But then the day that the everyone dreaded finally arrived. Ayden couldn’t walk and struggled to breathe.
He no longer had the energy to keep up the fight and even said to his father, “Dad, I gotta quit.”
They’re words that no parent ever wants to hear their child say.
Still, Bill answered the only way he knew. “I’ll make you a promise. If you’ve fought as much as you can and as hard as you can and you feel you fought that hard… I promise you, it’s okay to quit.”
Ayden died on March 22, 2017, just seven months after his diagnosis.
Ayden’s final wish?
“If people gather to remember me, I want them to dance, sing, and take group pictures,” Ayden said. “And if anyone asks how I want to be remembered, please say happy, funny, athletic, wise, fighter, caring and selfless.”
Hear Ayden’s father tell the story in this beautiful, emotional video:
[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivo0b5ZWyMM” /]
Even though Ayden has become an angel and isn’t physically here on Earth anymore, his memory lives on and remains forever. Share if you also think that there are real angels out there!