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This Florida 3-year-old died of cancer. Now, there's a fire truck named after him.

Posted at 10:03 PM, Sep 18, 2019
and last updated 2019-09-18 23:58:51-04

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — About a year and a half ago, 3-year-old Miles Shanaghan died after a nine-month battle with stage 4 Neuroblastoma.

Now, there's a new fire truck named in his honor.

The pink fire truck, owned by Pink Heals Tallahassee Chapter, has been in the works for over a year. The goal of the organization is to support area families as they're battling cancer and other terminal illnesses.

Miles's father, Matt Shanaghan, and Mile's brother Louis were the first to see the new pink fire truck.

"You know when he was going through his treatment, we were trying to set up with him to be able to see," Shanaghan said. "He like these big machines, construction, fire trucks, all that, I mean he loved that stuff. So, this is perfect. This is perfect for him."

Sarah Cooksey, President of the Pink Heals Tallahassee Chapter, spoke Wednesday about the significance of the firetruck and Miles to her crew.

"Right now 4 percent of funds raised for cancer is what goes towards these kids," Cooksey said. "And they're our future, so we're spending all this money on big cancer research for grown-ups and we're giving these little tiny kids these adult dosages of chemo and it's just taking them out left and right."

The new truck is the second pink fire truck for the Pink Heals Tallahassee Chapter. The first truck is named Ariel after a girl who lost her battle with liver cancer in 2012.

This story was originally published by WTXL in Tallahassee, Florida.