A 14-year-old boy from Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania is giving his local post office a serious stress test.
Letters and Christmas cards have arrived for Maddox Hyde from as far away as New Zealand, and the flood of mail is not going to stop any time soon.
This display of Christmas cheer is, sadly, the end of a long and painful struggle for Hyde, who was diagnosed with a type of cancer called neuroblastoma at age six.
Over the last eight years, Hyde has endured radiation therapy, antibody treatments, and even a bone marrow transplant. He also relearned how to walk, after a condition called Guillain-Barre Syndrome left him paralyzed.
But doctors now say his condition is terminal.
With his health worsening, Hyde's family have chosen to stop treatments, letting the teenager enjoy his last few weeks at home, not in a hospital.
Hyde has already enjoyed a "send-off" vacation in Hawaii with his family, paid for with the help of his classmates, and a shopping spree covered by the Make-A-Wish foundation.
Now, he only wants Christmas cards to encourage him in his final days.
It has just come to my attention that we have a local child from the Dubois middle school who is being sent home on...
Posted by Thomas Whitehead on Sunday, November 18, 2018
"There was talk that he wasn't going to make it to Christmas," Hyde's mother, Kristi Potter, explained. So one of her friends suggested flooding their mailbox with Christmas cards to enjoy before the holiday arrived.
On the Friends of Maddox Facebook page, where Hyde's family share photos of the cards that are already pouring in, Potter said the small gesture means a lot to her son.
"Today he said, 'Wow, there sure are a lot of cards and people thinking about me,'" she wrote.
"It makes me feel happy to see how many people actually care," Maddox told local news station KDKA.
You can send a card to the address below, and make a young boy's last few weeks a little brighter this Christmas:
Maddox Hyde
333 Ohio Street
Reynoldsville, PA 15851
You can also follow Hyde's story on the Friends of Maddox Facebook page.
Hyde also took part in a video gaming marathon to raise money for the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh this weekend. While the marathon is over, Hyde's fundraiser is still open.
As of Monday morning he's just $1,800 short of his $15,000 goal, so let's see if we can help Hyde do one last good deed for other sick kids.
[H/T: The Courier Express]
