An Oak Park third-grader with a love of puppies and parades has been named the 2015 junior grand marshal of the La Grange Pet Parade.
The honor is also a wish come true for 9-year-old Paul Nelson, who has Down syndrome and is completing the final rounds of intensive treatments for leukemia.
If all goes as planned the Longfellow Elementary School student hopes to be riding in the parade with his new puppy, Bonnie Joy, a chocolate Australian labradoodle, courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
“We’re in the last of the tough phases now, and he’s doing very well,” said his mother, Christine Nelson.
Christine Nelson said she isn’t exactly sure how her son became such a fan of parades after watching a few videos with his siblings. But it’s easy to see why he’s hooked, she said.
“Paul is a real people person, and he likes fire trucks, police cars and other vehicles,” she said. “For the sirens, I put my hands over his ears, and he waves like crazy.”
The La Grange Pet Parade May 30 won’t be Paul’s first brush with fame leading a parade. His friends and neighbors organized a one-block parade in his honor in the fall, not long after he was diagnosed with leukemia.
“There were 175 people,” said Paul’s mom. “They got a high school band, the beat cop, dancers, people from our church and from his school and soccer team. It was the most incredible experience.”
The neighborhood parade succeeded in lifting the family’s spirits after an unexpected and scary diagnosis. Paul’s only symptom was that his knee hurt, and then he refused to walk on it, his mother said.
“We really thought he had just whacked into something,” Christine Nelson said. “He’s a very active boy. We couldn’t figure it out. The next thing I knew they were telling me my kid has cancer.”
Paul is progressing well after overcoming a major hurdle two weeks after his treatments began. He suffered a stroke, caused by chemotherapy, and was paralyzed on his left side.
“That was the worst experience. He had nine hours of physical therapy a week to relearn skills, but he was walking independently and writing in a month,” his mother said. “Nine-year-old boys are amazing.”
The family looks forward to mid-May when Paul is expected to be finished receiving five kinds of chemotherapy on an outpatient basis from Lurie Children’s Hospital.
To celebrate, the family will welcome home its newest member, Bonnie, who is undergoing puppy training to prepare for the big day.
“Paul has never had a dog, and he was all over the idea,” his mother said. “Instead of a trip from Make-A-Wish, we went for what he wants the most, a dog.”
Sarah D’Amico of La Grange said when she and her fellow wish-granter, Diane Heffernan, got to know Paul and his love of animals, they approached Pet Parade officials to make his wish extra special.
“He’s so happy when we visit him while he’s having treatments at Lurie,” D’Amico said. “My wish partner’s husband brings his guitar and we have a little band. Paul is so fun.”
Christine Nelson said she and her husband, Michael, and his children, Zak, 17, and Rose, 21, are preparing Paul gradually for the excitement that lies ahead, making sure he has a spot to watch the Pet Parade after kicking it off.
Paul attends school whenever he can and continues to enjoy playing the guitar, ukulele, drums and marimba, his mother said. He looks forward to resuming soccer, Special Olympics basketball, karate and Cub Scouts next year and has a busy summer planned.
“He’ll be feeling well enough to really enjoy the parade,” Christine Nelson said. “Everyone has been very nice and so helpful. These little bits of sunshine really help.”
Twitter: @janemichaels22
