Maui firefighter Joshua Dukes holds his 3-year-old son, Trucker, last month. Trucker died Friday after a battle with an aggressive form of cancer. JUNE HARPER photo
Three-year-old Trucker Dukes died Friday morning in his mother’s arms, bringing an end to his brave battle against an aggressive form of cancer that inspired millions of people worldwide.
The toddler had been under hospice care with his parents and three older siblings at their Haiku home.
“At 10:10 a.m. on March 3, 2017, in his mama’s arms, Trucker took his last breath here and went home to be with Jesus,” Trucker’s father, Joshua Dukes, said in a Facebook post. “We prayed that his passing (and I say passing because we have hope of seeing him again in Heaven) would be peaceful, not painful and with ohana there.
“Our God answered this prayer.”
Trucker had spent the past few years undergoing multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatment and life-threatening surgeries since being diagnosed with neuroblastoma at the end of 2014.
When Tucker was 19 months old, a fast-growing tumor in his abdomen spread throughout 50 percent of his body. Almost a year later, just before Thanksgiving 2015, doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City discovered a new tumor in his brain.
The brain tumor was successfully removed, but the cancer never disappeared. Last fall, Trucker’s parents decided to stop treatments and to bring him back to Maui to treat him nutritionally in hopes of a better quality of life.
Trucker’s story has generated national headlines on NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox, and Hollywood celebrities and professional athletes have posted photos on social media in support of his fight.
He also was named an honorary firefighter of the New York City Fire Department — one of the most storied fire departments in the world. Joshua Dukes is a Paia firefighter.
Trucker’s body was transported to the mortuary on a firetruck.
“We are going to honor him and live our lives as better dads, moms, siblings, husbands, wives and people of God,” Joshua Dukes said on Facebook. “We love you little warrior. Run free in heaven with no pain, no tears, no suffering!!”
For more information on Trucker Dukes, visit www.teamtrucker.org.
* Chris Sugidono can be reached at csugidono@mauinews.com.
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