Ten-year-old Landon Derrick still has a tracheotomy tube in his neck and nerve damage from the tumor that was removed from his brain four years ago. But for an hour on Monday, Jan. 14, he was too busy giving treats to police K-9s and flipping on the siren of a Richland County patrol car to think about that.
The Chapin boy was diagnosed with a brain tumor when he was 6 years old, after mysterious bouts of dizziness, according to his father, Matthew Derrick. An MRI revealed a grape-size tumor on his brain stem.
"They got the tumor and everything out," Derrick said. "In the process of that removal, it caused quite a bit of nerve damage."
The boy has had a tracheotomy tube since the surgery, and the nerve damage caused weakness on the left side of his body, keeping him from doing things he enjoyed before his diagnosis, like playing baseball, his father said.
But, ahead of Landon's 10th birthday, a friend of the family who knows of his love for Jeeps and dogs arranged for Landon to visit the sheriff's department K-9 unit. Galeana Chrysler Jeep provided them with a loaner Jeep to ride around in for the day, Derrick said.
Sheriff Leon Lott met them at the door and gave Landon a baseball hat that said "Sheriff."
"He's a little boy who has unfortunate events in his life at a very young age," said Deputy Zachary Keefe of the Richland County Sheriff's Department K-9 unit. "Nobody ever wants to be told that they've been diagnosed with cancer at 6 years old."
But Monday, they didn't talk much about Landon's illness. Instead, the K-9 deputies gave him a tour of the department, introduced him to some of the agency's K-9s (who happily accepted treats from Landon and his brother and sister) and let them try on some police gear and sit in a patrol car.
Landon and his sister even got to handcuff a couple of the deputies, Derrick said.
"We wanted (Monday) to be all about him," Keefe said, "for him to forget just for a half hour to an hour, to be a boy, ride in a Jeep and love on a dog."
Landon is in remission and has MRIs every six months, his father said. His next one is Wednesday.
"We're on pins and needles every time they do one of those," Derrick said.
Since his diagnosis, they've started Landon's Hope Foundation to raise awareness and funds for children battling pediatric brain tumors. Last year they held Landon's Jeep Jamboree at Columbia Speedway, raising $20,000 for Curing Kids Cancer, Derrick said. They plan to hold another Jeep Jamboree this year.
"His face just lit up," Derrick said of Landon's day with the K-9s. "We've seen him down for so long, especially when he was back in the hospital. He gets down from time to time, and things like this really lift his spirits up and bring a smile to his face."
Monday's visit also brought smiles to the faces of the deputies Landon spent time with.
"It just puts things in perspective of what really matters in life," Keefe said. "The small things I think I have problems with everyday aren't that big when you think about a 6-year-old diagnosed with cancer, still living his life and looking at life in a positive manner."
