The organization Allegheny County Communities and Police Together held a surprise party on Thursday for 9-year-old Joshua Eastman, who is battling leukemia. “We’ve been in touch with him since the February patch delivery,” said Joe Risher, community relations officer for the Allegheny County Police Department. “A few of us would visit occasionally, play board games with him, shoot nerf targets.” It was in February that Joshua went viral for his love of collecting police patches. Risher said he was texting back and forth with Joshua recently about his upcoming birthday. “The conversation went to ‘did I catch bad guys today’, I let him know I teach a lot, I teach kids bike safety. Then he texted me, ‘I don’t have a bike, I don’t know how to ride a bike’, said Risher. “So that got the wheels spinning, (and) I spoke to my friends at Pro Bike + Run, they got up and said absolutely. After surprising Joshua in front of the Ronald McDonald House Thursday afternoon, the officers had a birthday party with cake pizza and presents One of the big gifts was a new bike We do some stuff with Joe and they do a great job and they called Joe and said ‘Hey can you fix these bikes’ and we were like of ‘yeah, but we’re going to give him a new bike instead,'” said Craig Cuzza, owner of ProBike + Run. “We live for those moments every day, to be a part of something like this; it’s special.” Joshua’s parents told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 that Joshua hasn’t seen his siblings since December, but they were reunited on Thursday. “I’m happy, I’m so excited,” said Rebecca Eastman, sitting next to Jason Eastman. “He was there in tears, we talked to him and this morning we sang to him because he didn’t think we were coming (today).” Joshua’s parents said he can go home this week, but will continue his treatments every week at UPMC Children’s Hospital.
PITTSBURGH –
The organization Allegheny County Communities and Police Together held a surprise party on Thursday for 9-year-old Joshua Eastman, who is battling leukemia.
“We’ve been in touch with him since the February patch delivery,” said Joe Risher, community relations officer for the Allegheny County Police Department. “A few of us would visit occasionally, play board games with him, shoot nerf targets.”
It was in February that Joshua went viral for his love of collecting police patches. Risher said he was texting back and forth with Joshua recently about his upcoming birthday.
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Do you remember Joshua Eastman? He went viral again in February for his love for #PolicePatches. He bravely fights leukemia – today he turned 9 and agents in Allegheny Co. threw a party for him! &This was the first time he saw his siblings in months – hear the full story and his progress at 11.@WTAE pic.twitter.com/W5v3UVNkNB
— Tori Yorgey (@toriyorgeywtae) Apr 15, 2022
“The conversation went to ‘did I catch bad guys today’, I let him know I teach a lot, I teach kids bike safety. Then he texted me, ‘I don’t have a bike, I don’t know how to ride a bike,’ said Risher. “So that got the wheels spinning, (and) I spoke to my friends at Pro Bike + Run, they got up and said absolutely.”
After surprising Joshua in front of the Ronald McDonald House on Thursday afternoon, the agents celebrated a birthday party with cake, pizza and presents. One of the great gifts was a new bicycle.
“We do some stuff with Joe and they’re doing a great job, and they called Joe and said ‘hey can you fix these bikes’ and we were like ‘yeah, but we’re going to give him a new bike instead’, said Craig Cuzza, owner of ProBike + Run. “We live for those moments every day, to be a part of something like that, it’s special.”
Joshua’s parents told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 that Joshua hasn’t seen his siblings since December, but they were reunited on Thursday.
“I’m happy, I’m excited,” said Rebecca Eastman, sitting next to Jason Eastman. “He was there in tears. We talked to him and we sang to him this morning because he thought we weren’t coming (today).”
Joshua’s parents said he will be able to go home this week but will continue his treatments each week at UPMC Children’s Hospital.
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