Grieving Mom Hides Hot Wheels Around Town in Honor of Son Who Died of Cancer
"I just wanted to to spread his love and his story," Tracey Blackmore said.
— -- An Indiana mother is hoping to preserve her son's memory by hiding his favorite toys, Hot Wheels cars, around the neighborhood for strangers to find.
"Since he passed, it's hard dealing with your grief," Tracey Blackmore of Carmel, Indiana told ABC News. "You can be sad and feel sorry for yourself or you could do something about it. I just wanted to to spread his love and his story and also help raise money for childhood cancer research."
On June 13, 2015, Brooks Blackmore, 6, was diagnosed with two astrocytomas, which are cancerous tumors of the brain. He underwent several bouts of radiation to fight the inoperable, stage 4 tumors. But in March 2016 another tumor developed and on May 21, 2016, Brooks died.
"I just miss his laugh and the joy he would bring to our lives," Blackmore said of her son. "He was such a silly boy always making little fart jokes or butt jokes. He has younger siblings. They are now 3 years old. They're boy-girl twins and I miss the love that he would share with them."
To add to the more than $20,000 Brooks' family has raised for childhood cancer research, Blackmore began assembling bags labeled "Finders Keepers, #BeBrooksBrave."
Each bag contains Brooks' story, statistics on childhood cancer, a copy of Brooks' painting, a link to his St. Baldrick's Foundation fundraising page and a packaged Hot Wheels car donated by the Mattel toy company.
"Brooks has always loved Hot Wheels," Blackmore said. "Whenever he was home and sick he would always ask to go out and get a Hot Wheel. This kid would remember every Hot Wheel he had, where he got it, where he got it from. We probably went out four to five times a week when he was undergoing treatment."
December 20 would have been Brooks' 7th birthday. In an effort to remember him on that day and during the holidays, Blackmore began scattering 200-plus Hot Wheels cars in some of Brooks' favorite places including Target, his old preschool, the Chick-fil-A play area and his favorite restaurant, Panera.
"We have a very emotional month here, so I wanted to bring it joy and happiness instead of sadness," Blackmore said. "I wanted to inspire others to keep fighting, be brave and hopefully do something good for somebody else too."
Blackmore hopes the cars will cheer someone up just as they did for Brooks. She has mailed some Hot Wheels across the country so out-of-state family can hide them as well.
