Arizona sheriff’s office throws terminally ill boy birthday party

PHOENIX — A terminally ill boy from Mesa, Arizona, now has some more great memories — thanks to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.

Jacob Priestly, who turns 15 on Monday, was given a one-of-a-kind birthday party from the sheriff’s office. The teenager was given a tour of the department, went on a trip to the firing range and was sworn in as an honorary PCSO deputy.

“[This day is] something amazing,” Jacob said, as he chowed down on homemade mac-n-cheese in the sheriff’s office lunchroom. “They found my story, and now they’re here, celebrating with me.”

The deputies sang “Happy Birthday” to the teenager and brought food, cupcakes and a birthday cake.

“This is a tough thing for anybody to go through,” said Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb. “[We thought] If we can just give a few minutes of reprieve from the pain and the suffering.”

At 10, Jacob was diagnosed with mitochondrial disease, a terminal condition that causes most of the mitochondria in his cells to die, leaving him easily exhausted with diminished energy. There is no cure for the disease.

“It’s like powering a house on double-A batteries,” said Jacob’s mom, Britney. “He has issues with his brain, his muscles, his kidney, liver, heart. [The party] makes us really happy — especially to know that we’re making memories with him, too.”

Jacob said he is happy that people are doing special things for him, but there is one request he has – aside from gathering 100,000 birthday cards.

“Look up mitochondrial disease, and look at my Facebook page. If you want to go all out, just send us a birthday card.”

Related

Families rescued from flooded Navajo Nation homes as Phoenix sees light rainVacant motel burns in north Phoenix, forcing nearby evacuationsLaura Owens to be sentenced Friday in fabricated pregnancy cases involving former ‘Bachelor’ starCasa Grande man sentenced for threatening to kill President Trump, former Vice President HarrisValley, eastern part of Arizona to get relief from weather activity after damaging stormsTornado warning issued near Show Low as watch in effect for other parts of eastern Arizona