A terminally ill Utah teenager battling cancer has been offered a Ford Mustang worth $30,000 – and the chance to drive it.
Joseph Tegerdine, 18, may have less than a year to live after battling bone cancer since seventh grade, but he fights every day after his father fulfilled his dream of owning the iconic car.
And when Ford’s boss heard about the story, he tweeted an invitation for the young athlete to take a trip to the company’s racing school in North Carolina.
“It was really crazy. That tweet was just a little random,” said his father Joe Tergerdine Sr. “He sent me a direct message saying, ‘Hey, do you want me to do this?’
“If all goes well, his guys would install everything at the Ford Performance Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“I need an instructor, a trainer. Plus, I get to drive one of the most powerful Ford track Mustangs ever,” said Joe Jr. “It’s going to be sick.”
Joseph Tegerdine Jr (right) with his family Langston, London, Joe, Kerry and Grace
“They’re taking us there. It’s just really cool and we’ll be staying in Charlotte for a few days.
“There’s a big dinner before school. Next, Joseph will be on the track with the (Mustang) Dark Horse.
Joe Jr. has been a fan of the car since he was little enough to sit in his toy Mustang in the driveway of his family’s home in Melissa, Texas.
He was working at Sodalicious to save money for real, when his father concluded he might run out of time.
“With everything going on, and we found out he had other tumors in his lungs, we had to buy the car,” he told the newspaper. Detroit Free Press.
“For those wondering why I would buy my 18-year-old son a 330-horsepower Mustang, well, he has months to live and he can’t work long enough to buy one himself,” he said. he tweeted on March 2.
“His comment on the way home: ‘Dad, I’m going to gain a few extra months of life just so I can drive this.’ #cancer sucks.
Within hours, the tweet went viral, gaining 14 million views and catching the attention of Ford CEO Jim Farley.
“Hi Joe, I’m so sorry to hear about what your family is going through,” the car boss responded on Twitter.
“Please let me know if you and your son would like to attend @FPRacingSchool to experience a @FordMustang Dark Horse on the track. DM me and we’ll make it happen.
Joe Sr’s tweet and photo of his son behind the wheel of the 2020 Mustang racked up 14 million views on X and caught the attention of Ford CEO Jim Farley.
Joseph Tegerdine Jr with his girlfriend Lily and the Ford Bronco sold by his family
The young couple had to deal with Joe’s terminal diagnosis and the loss of his right leg.
“You have to live day by day because, day by day, if you look at my life, it’s really fantastic,” Joe Jr. said.
Joe (left) on an excursion with his father Joe Sr and his brother Langston
Joe Jr. was only a year old in middle school when he began experiencing persistent knee pain after football that kept him up at night.
An MRI detected osteosarcoma and Joe Jr’s life became a grueling series of surgeries and chemotherapy.
“Life goes in a certain direction and then it’s hard to explain how quickly things changed for the whole family,” Joe Sr. said.
“I don’t remember how many weeks passed or how many treatments, but they had to remove a large part of his right leg to remove the tumor.”
“He had a ‘rotationplasty,’ where they cut out the diseased bone and rotated the lower leg, took the tibia and fibula, and reattached them to the femur. They remove the compromised bone. He has a prosthesis now.
“In seventh grade, I was 5-foot-1 and taller than everyone else on the football team,” Joe Jr. remembers.
“So they played me at center and also as a running back. Then I grew eight inches in a year and am now 5 feet 11 inches tall.
“One of the hallmarks of bone cancer is its sudden and extreme growth.”
But he never lost his interest in cars and the Mustangs of his dreams.
“I’ve loved Mustangs for as long as I can remember,” he said.
“At the age of six I loved it, the headlights looked cool and I stuck with that.
“I was driving this Ford Bronco. In fact, it was a big truck. I would get compliments and feel so manly. “We sold it and I started driving my mom’s minivan, a Honda Odyssey. I felt like my testosterone was being drained. Not great.
The family is currently planning a vacation to visit Osaka, Japan.
“Over the years, I have known many parents who lost their children to sudden tragedy and never had the opportunity to say goodbye,” Joseph Sr. said.
“In a Mustang, I feel like a man again,” he joked.
“It’s the stupidest thing. When you get in and drive off, the car rumbles around you. It’s not a sound, it’s a feeling.
“When you take a turn, you can feel like you’re being pushed into the turn from behind. I like the feel of rear-wheel drive. When you turn the steering wheel, I feel sharper turns.
And he already knows how he’s going to make the most of his all-expenses trip to Charlotte Motor Speedway, starting with some tire-smoking laps.
“I don’t know how to drift,” he explained. “I was always too scared to go into a parking lot to figure that out, because I had just hit a lamp post or something.
“I need an instructor, a trainer. Plus, I drive one of the most powerful Ford track Mustangs around.
“It’s going to be sick.”
Joe Jr. says his family is lucky compared to what some have to endure.
“Over the years, I have known many parents who lost their children to sudden tragedy and never had the chance to say goodbye,” he said.
“I’m in Japan right now. I have my dream car, I’m surrounded by tons of people I adore, and I go to driving school,” Joe Jr. said.
“When my son was diagnosed, I had to make a decision. Either you curse God and die, or you try to make the best of a very bad situation. With the perspective of what it would be like to experience sudden loss, I decided to be grateful.
“I’m grateful we had 18 years to make memories and enjoy him.
“Even now, with the only treatments remaining to prolong life and manage pain, I am grateful that he is still with us, making the most of what life has to offer in less than ideal circumstances.”
“My heart is still broken, but I know it could be much worse.”
The family is currently enjoying an unforgettable vacation in Osaka, Japan, before returning for their racetrack adventure.
“You have to live day by day because, day by day, if you look at my life, it’s really fantastic,” Joe Jr. said.
“I’m in Japan right now. I have the car of my dreams, I’m surrounded by people I adore and I go to driving school.
“Then you look at the future and everything starts to fall apart. I don’t really need to look to the future. “Unfortunately, I don’t really have one. I can’t say, “In a year…” If I get a year, I’ll be extremely lucky.