A Missouri teenager who died of cancer earlier this month had his final bucket list item fulfilled when an estimated 2,000 people joined forces to give him a massive sports car funeral procession.
Alec Ingram died on Nov. 7 after a four-year battle with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer.
“Our sweet boy lived more life in his 14 yrs than a lot of us could ever imagine,” his mother Jen Ingram wrote on the Facebook page Alec Ingram’s Fight with Cancer. “It gives me so much peace knowing how loved our sweet boy was and will always be. Alec is no longer in pain or has to fight this awful disease. … He did it his way. Forever our superhero.”
Alec’s family posted before his death that his last wish was for “race cars and sports cars to take him to his final resting place.”
That dream was fulfilled with the help of Dana Manley of Sydney’s Soldiers Always, an organization that helps complete bucket list items for children with terminal illnesses.
Manley launched the foundation after the death of her 8-year-old daughter Sydney.
“When Sydney passed, she had a motorcycle escort like this one but with 3,500 motorcycles,” Manley told CNN. “When Alec saw Sydney’s escort, he said, ‘That’s really cool, but it would be even better with sports cars,’ and that’s why we organized it.”
The lineup was arranged and put into action on Sunday, with cars from all across the country lining up in the parking lot of Six Flags St. Louis and driving to Alec’s hometown of Washington, Missouri for his funeral.
Drivers came from all over to attend, including California, Indiana, Michigan, Florida and New York, CNN reported.
Many who took part joined the Facebook page Sports Cars for Alec, where they shared how much it meant to them to take part in Alec’s journey.
“It was a huge honor for me to come out from California and be part of Team Alec,” one participant wrote. “I would totally do it all over again in a heartbeat.”
The page also showed pictures of supporters who sat watching the procession with signs including messages like, “Team Alec.”
The Washington Police Department estimated that between 1,700 and 2,000 cars took part in the procession, while CNN reported that 70 motorcycles did, too.
Manley told the outlet, “I spoke with Jen at the dinner after the funeral and she said, ‘I couldn’t keep it together trying to read those signs. It was so overwhelmingly good for me to see how much my boy was loved.’”
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