Town turns out for coronavirus survivor: ‘If I can do it, you can do it’

Little Gavin Brennan got a town parade for his 7th birthday.

The plucky Dedham first-grader battling cancer just beat coronavirus and it seemed everyone was there to help celebrate.

“If people are having a hard time, if I can do it, you can do it,” Gavin said, as he sat masked in his child-sized wheelchair at the end of his driveway Thursday afternoon.

Fire trucks, police cruisers and dozens of cars packed with local families drove past the Brennan home, where Gavin and his family waved and cheered. First responders blared their sirens and Gavin’s friends leaned out the windows of their parents’ cars to shoot silly string at the birthday boy.

Gavin was isolated for weeks at Children’s Hospital after testing positive for coronavirus. The diagnosis was devastating to the Brennan family, who had already watched Gavin undergo months of chemotherapy at Children’s and Dana Farber to treat lymphoma.

“We were like, this is it. We’re all going to die separating, in separate rooms,”  April Brennan, Gavin’s mom, told the Herald.

In March, Gavin only suffered a short fever and was discharged from the hospital. But two weeks later, he took a turn for the worse. As he struggled to breathe at home, his parents rushed him back to Children’s, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. Another COVID-19 test showed Gavin’s body was still fighting the virus.

“We were very scared. It felt surreal,” April said.

Doctors at Children’s still aren’t sure why Gavin’s case carried on for such a long time, but they’re now re-testing cancer patients for COVID-19 before sending them home, April said.

Gavin wrapped up chemotherapy days before his big birthday, and his parents are waiting to see the results of the treatment. In the meantime, they say they’re thankful to be back together again.

“People in this COVID situation, it’s almost like it breaks families apart. We haven’t seen each other in like, a month,” Gavin’s dad, Tim Brennan, said about his wife, April.

“I forgot what color his eyes were,” April said. “I was like, oh my gosh, you’re cute!”

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2WcgHeR