Boy, 7, Battling Leukemia Named Honorary Plainfield Firefighter

PLAINFIELD, IL — A 7-year-old boy from Plainfield was recently sworn in as the newest member of the Plainfield Fire Protection District. Last week, Blake Burton, who was diagnosed with advanced pediatric leukemia at age 4, was dubbed an honorary firefighter by Chief Jon Stratton and members from Fire Station 2.

Plainfield’s Wilding Pointe subdivision came to life Sept. 26 when residents in the neighborhood put their heads together to organize the “Halloween Spooktacular for Blake” event Sept. 26. A person dressed as Spider-Man came to surprise kids; there was an exotic car show; real-life police and firefighters even showed up.

“Our neighbors went above and beyond,” Blake’s mom, Robyn, told Patch, adding that it was a lot of fun for her son. “It was over the top. … It was almost like a carnival for him.”

It was at the early Halloween celebration that Blake was surprised with the title, along with a badge, challenge coin and Station 2 T-shirt that honors Mike Ludemann, a former emergency vehicle technician who died from leukemia.

Blake’s new title is the result of people in the community who know him reaching out to the fire department to coordinate the effort, Robyn said. To the fire chief, the subject hits close to home.

“What we wanted to do was just make sure he's happy,” Stratton said. “I can tell you one of the things that's pretty close to me, one of our guys who was a mechanic had the same disease. It's a horrible disease.”

In mid-September, Blake was put in hospice, prompting the neighborhood to “jump into action” and celebrate the holiday early because “nobody really knew what was going to happen.” Since his diagnosis, Blake has had three failed transplants and has relapsed six times, most recently at the end of August.

“Right now, we’re just doing [chemotherapy] to slow down the disease and to keep his quality of life at this point instead of letting the disease take over,” Robyn said.

Blake is a patient at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. His doctors say he’s a unique case in that his body responds “very well” to chemotherapy, but it doesn’t kill or keep the cancer away, Robyn told Patch.

“He's really had to endure more than any child has had to endure,” she said.

At the block party, she and Blake rode together in an ambulance. They, along with others, also got on a fire truck and checked out various equipment.

In the past, Blake has been picked up from his elementary school, where he’s in first grade, in a squad car and has also been on a tour of the Plainfield Police Department. Through it all, Robyn said, both the fire and police departments “have been fantastic to our family.”

“I think it's always just every little boy's dream or fantasy [to be a firefighter or police officer] and see these strong guys,” she said.

Coming up on the agenda for Blake will be a tour of the fire department, where Robyn said “all the guys have just been wonderful.”

While some kids around Blake’s age might dislike going to school and find themselves complaining about it, Robyn said Blake loves it and is motivated to learn. He goes every day, sometimes for a full day and other times just for a half day. She said her son is your typical 7-year-old who loves riding his bike, being around his friends and family, and playing with trucks and Minecraft.

“He wants to be normal and he is pretty remarkable,” she said. “He's the baby of four … so he is wise beyond his years. He is very sweet, and he's in charge of everybody. If someone's being made fun of, he stands up for them. If somebody’s lonely, he goes and sits with them. That’s just the kind of person that he is. He's very inspiring even to kids at the young age of 6 and 7.”

Through everything, Robyn said she and her family are thankful to the community for coming together and supporting them. She said residents recently put gold ribbons — the international symbol representing childhood cancer — on about two hundred trees in and around their subdivision.

“The support that we have felt from the community is truly humbling and inspiring, and it makes you want to pay it forward to people who have issues ... in life, it just makes you want to be a better person.”

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