Boy raises nearly $20K for 7-year-old friend with cancer
The 8-year-old auctioned off his pet hog after raising it for nearly a year
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This friendship is priceless.
Jesse Starr, an 8-year-old boy from Missouri, rallied the community to help raise money for his friend, 7-year-old Claire Calvin, who her mother said is fighting a brain tumor after being diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, also known as DIPG, in 2020.
DIPG is a type of cancer that affects children between the ages of five and 10.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jesse Starr, 8 (right) helped his friend Claire Calvin (left) who was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2020, raise money for medical expenses by selling his pet hog. (Rachael Record)
"Jesse is such an amazing and thoughtful kid. Honestly, it didn’t surprise me that he came up with this generous idea but we were so grateful," Calvin's mother, Rachael Record, 39, told Fox News, adding that Starr and Calvin met in the same classroom at school.
After undergoing testing at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, doctors discovered a tumor on Claire's brain stem, Record said.
DIPG occurs in the stem-like part of the brain which controls much of the body’s functions including breathing, heart rate and blood pressure and also affects the muscles that help people see, walk, talk and eat, according to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}IPHONE PHOTO HELPS GEORGIA MOM DISCOVER HER SON'S RARE EYE CANCER
Devastated about Claire's diagnosis, Jesse opted to sell the hog he raised at his family's farm in the last year – pledging to donate profits to Claire and her family, according to Record.
The in-person bids continued to skyrocket, with the hog eventually selling for a whopping $16,000. Local businesses ended up contributing and the total raised was $19,000, Record said.
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Record said friends and neighbors have purchased t-shirts in support of her daughter, with proceeds donated to the family.
"Claire is doing well overall. The tumor is significantly smaller than it was at diagnosis. She will continue with the clinical trial at this time," Record said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The community has supported us in so many ways. It’s been so amazing and we are so very grateful," she added.
St. Louis Children’s Hospital has not yet responded to Fox News' request for comment.