The power of Halloween

Halloween came early for the town of Hamilton in Ontario, Canada, last month, as the community rallied to make one boy's wishes come true.

🙏👻 Hope for Halloween... Residents Nick and Kira Hurdakis were devastated when doctors told them their son's brain cancer treatment was no longer working.

At five years-old, Alex Hurdakis was given only a few weeks left with his family and friends. So the couple decided they would do everything in their power to make their boy's wishes come true. 

Alex's biggest wish? To "see monsters" and experience Halloween. 

• But Kira worried that the end of October was too far away with Alex's quickly declining health – she needed to make the holiday happen, and fast. 

🎃🦹‍♀️ Step one... A friend posted on the town's Facebook group to see if anyone would be willing to put on a costume and stop by their home, so Alex could get his wish. 

What happened next blew the family away. 

❤️ The monster factory... In less than 48 hours, a city-wide Halloween parade was planned. But instead of happening on the city's main boulevard, it took place on the Hurdakis family's street – and only the Hurdakis family's street.

Hundreds of residents showed up in costumes for Alex to enjoy. The local fire and police departments even joined in on the fun. 

• "[Alex] was waving to every single person in the crowd," a family friend shared. "He knew it was for him…. You could see the love in his eyes."
• The community also raised a significant amount of funds at the event, with the aim of helping the family with medical bills and life expenses in the coming months.

🙏 One powerful parade: Adrienne Clark, a fellow Hamilton resident who lost her daughter to cancer in 2019, said, "I had chills, I cried a lot, I smiled a lot. This place, I swear, there is nothing like it. All we really have in this life are our memories, make them good ones.”