RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A 14-year-old cancer survivor is giving back to other children with cancer, and he’s using a haunted house to do it.
It’s a spooky scene on S. Mere Court in Raleigh. A haunted house filled with werewolves, spiderwebs, and bone-chilling screams, but the boy behind it is all smiles. Edward Thompson loves Halloween.
“I always wanted to do a haunted house but mom and dad would always say no,” he explained. “They hate me scaring them.”
The Thompsons have been through something so much scarier than this, though. “It was Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” said Sarah Thompson. “He was diagnosed the last day of 6th grade.”
Edward needed chemotherapy, radiation, and a stem cell transplant to fight cancer.
“One day I was very depressed since I was going through all this. I think I had just relapsed,” Edward recalled. “Mom said, ‘You know what. This year we’re going to do a haunted house.'”
“He got so excited and he would sit there during chemo and plan out the haunted house,” added his mom. “It kind of pulled him through.”
The haunted house is a tradition now. Edward and his little brother, John are pretty proud of it and what it means to their family.
“I’m reminded of what I went through and how I got through it,” said Edward, who even included the mask he used for radiation treatment among the Halloween decorations.
The house will be open the nights of October 26, 27, 30, and 31st.
It’s free to tour, but the family’s accepting donations for “Give Kids the World” a resort for children who are part of the Make-A-Wish program. Edward went after finishing treatment.
“We weren’t the oddballs anymore. We weren’t the outcasts; we weren’t the kids with cancer,” he remembered. “I’m giving back to them because I know what they’ve been through.”
After dealing with very real fear for a very long time, Edward still loves to scare people. “I love to scare. I love to get scared. Scaring is just a part of me,” he said.
The Thompsons hope this is the fun kind of fright, you’ll dare to brave to help others.
The haunted house is located at:
9401 S. Mere Ct.
Raleigh, NC 27615
It is open October 26, 27, 30, and 31st from 6:30 p.m. until 8 p.m.
On the 26th and 27th, a local restaurant will offer food and donate to Give Kids the World.
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