6-Year-Old Boy with Leukemia Granted Wish to Become UPS Driver, Delivers Packages in His Very Own Truck

The last year has been an especially tough one for 6-year-old Mateo Toscano from Stockton, California, as he’s had to stay indoors due to his weakened immune system.

Mateo was diagnosed with leukemia in 2017, so he’s been battling the disease for years, but with COVID spreading like wildfire, it was safest for him to stay inside.

He did what he could to connect with the outside world by posting himself at the front window and watching, and one of the things that made the biggest impact on him was the deliverymen and women hard at work day in and day out.

They made such a difference for him that when Make-A-Wish reached out to his family, Mateo immediately knew what he wanted.

And on May 6, he got to live his dream of being a UPS driver.

“It’s really cool,” Mateo told Fox News. “Like, I just want to be a UPS driver because UPS trucks are the coolest, like they say UPS on the sides and the back.”

After a mini UPS truck was unloaded off of a big one, Mateo was able to take a driving test and then delivered packages to police, city officials and others.

They took a break for lunch, and then Mateo made another special delivery to his grandma and mother since, after all, Mother’s Day was coming up.

“When Mateo’s wish came true, he did more than deliver packages, he delivered hope to the entire Stockton community and beyond … and that’s the incredible power of a wish,” Jennifer Stolo, president and CEO of the Northeastern and Central California & Northern Nevada chapter of Make-A-Wish told “Good Morning America.”

“I really liked it,” Mateo said at the end of his day. “It was so cool.”

“I was busy as a bee.”

Mom Cynthia Toscano was cheered by the thoughtful gifts that had been arranged for her and her mom.

“My mom and I were both so touched by his Mother’s Day gifts to us, and were very surprised by the pretty flowers!” she said.

“The flowers were a very nice way to signal the end of a very, very dark period. Hopefully, the brighter times are here to stay.”

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Amanda holds an MA in Rhetoric and TESOL from Cal Poly Pomona. After teaching composition and logic for several years, she’s strayed into writing full-time and especially enjoys animal-related topics.

As of January 2019, Amanda has written over 1,000 stories for The Western Journal but doesn’t really know how. Graduating from California State Polytechnic University with a MA in Rhetoric/Composition and TESOL, she wrote her thesis about metacognitive development and the skill transfer between reading and writing in freshman students.
She has a slew of interests that keep her busy, including trying out new recipes, enjoying nature, discussing ridiculous topics, reading, drawing, people watching, developing curriculum, and writing bios. Sometimes she has red hair, sometimes she has brown hair, sometimes she’s had teal hair.
With a book on productive communication strategies in the works, Amanda is also writing and illustrating some children’s books with her husband, Edward.

Location

Austin, Texas

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English und ein bißchen Deutsch

Topics of Expertise

Faith, Animals, Cooking