Faith in Humanity: Town hosts early Halloween, Christmas for dying boy

A Utah town moved the calendar ahead a few months this week, when it hosted Halloween, Christmas and a birthday party for a boy dying of cancer.

Today.com reported West Jordan, Utah, put on the celebrations for 4-year-old Ethan Van Leuven, who has been battling lymphoblastic leukemia and received a terminal diagnosis.

“So the doctors basically said, he’s got two days to a couple of weeks left to live, and so that’s when we thought we would make the most of the last days he has remaining with us,” Ethan’s father, Merrill Van Leuven, told Joe Fryer on TODAY Friday.

The town has already marked all three special days so Ethan could experience them one last time.

“Ethan’s having a blast,” his mother, Jennifer Van Leuven, told Fryer [at the time]. “It’s so much fun to watch his face light up.”

Sadly, Ethan passed away Tuesday, but his family said the community support is helping them get through the tough time.