Lane Goodwin may not get the miracle he needs to beat back the rare cancer that put him in a hospice this week, but the 13-year-old got 100,000 people to join his inspiring 'thumbs up' campaign.
On Friday, the Beech Grove, Ky., teen who always managed to give a thumbs up when people asked how he was feeling, got 100,000 "likes" on the Facebook page, Prayers for Lane Goodwin. On Monday, the page was heading toward twice that many likes and hundreds of well-wishers posting photos of Lane's signature hand gesture along with good wishes for his recovery.
Despite the outpouring of support, which has included high school "thumbs up" rallies and candlelight vigils, Lane was moved this week to a hospice near his home after doctors delivered the devastating news that the cancer had spread to his brain and there was no more they could do for him.
Lane was first diagnosed with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma -- a rare and aggressive cancer that affects just 1 in a million children -- on March 4, 2010. He underwent more than a year of grueling radiation and chemo treatments that left him clear of disease. But in July 2011, scans showed the cancer had returned and he had 13 tumors in his bones. His condition worsened this May.
"Ever since he was diagnosed, he's never complained, he's always smiling and in all of the pictures he's giving a 'thumbs-up' sign," Claudia Wayne, Lane's aunt, told The Gleaner newspaper in Henderson, Ky. "He's touched a lot of people's hearts by making them think about how important family is and how important God is."
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