A devastated dad bought his dying teenage son his $20,000 dream car as a tragic cancer diagnosis has left him without enough time to save for it himself.
The 18-year-old Joseph Tegerdine started experiencing knee pain in 2019 when he was 13 years old but his parents Joe, 49, and Kerry, 46, assumed it was just "growing pains". But with the pain still present weeks later, it started to keep Joseph up at night so he went for an x-ray and MRI at Methodist Richardson Medical Centre in Richardson, Texas, US. MRI results showed Joe had a synovial sarcoma - a rare type of cancer that tends to occur near large joints, mainly the knees - and he began chemotherapy just 10 days later.
In May 2019, Joseph finished that treatment and had to have a rotation-plasty - a surgical procedure used to treat bone tumours in children that occur near the knee. Joseph was given a 70 per cent survival rate but sadly in January 2022, Joseph was told the cancer had spread to his lungs and his hip with a terrifying prognosis - he had just months to live.
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Joseph Tegerdine in his Mustang (Joe Tegerdine / SWNS)After his terminal diagnosis, his father Joe went out and bought his son a 330 horsepower Ford Mustang, his son had always dreamed of owning his own. With so little time, the family are embracing every opportunity to travel and have amazing experiences. They have visited Los Angeles to see Taylor Swift, Florida to swim with dolphins and are currently in Tokyo.
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Joseph Tegerdine with his dad Joe and brother Langston (Joe Tegerdine / SWNS)Joe, a Springville, Utah, businessman said: "Joseph had been talking about owning a Mustang for a couple of years. He was always talking to me about buying one but we kept putting it off. Once he got his terminal diagnosis I spoke to my wife and said there was no way he has enough time to save money - so I went out and bought him one. He was so excited, he told me he wants to squeeze out a few extra months of life to drive the car.
The family have rallied around Joseph (Joe Tegerdine / SWNS)
Joseph with his dad Joe and brother Langston in Tokyo (Joe Tegerdine / SWNS)"He really wants to live life to the fullest. He is not interested in spending the last few months hooked up to machines. He wants a high standard of living."
The diagnosis shocked the family.
Joe said: "They said they could see a growth. We then had an MRI and that same day we got a call. My wife knew it would be bad news and they confirmed it was a synovial sarcoma. It was so devastating because not only did the doctor say it was one of the worst cancers and the hardest to treat.
Joseph with his girlfriend Lily (Joe Tegerdine / SWNS)"You didn't have Google to know that the statistics for survival were not good. We knew he would need to have his right leg amputated - it was horrible we just didn't know what the outcome looked like. After the surgery, he had more chemotherapy until October 2019," the devastated father shared.
Sadly however, in January 2022, scan results showed Joseph's cancer had spread to his lungs which took his survival rate from 70 percent to just 10 percent. Despite further surgeries and experimental treatments that doctors hoped would help him, he is looking his final months in the eye.
The new Mustang (Joe Tegerdine / SWNS)The family have been making sure Joseph lives his final months, taking a trip to Tokyo, Japan and are hoping to go on another trip in the summer depending on how sick Joseph is.
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