3-year-old B.C. boy inspires legacy of hope for children diagnosed with terminal brain tumours
As soon as Liam Comboye learned to laugh, his mom says her baby strived to share it.
"It was a belly laugh," Cari Comboye says, before playing videos of her baby laughing in the tub, before becoming a toddler and giggling with their cat.
When he wasn’t laughing, Liam would be asking to help care for his little cousin or younger brother.
"He always wanted to help with everything," Cari says, before showing pictures of Liam doing just that. "Bottle feeding, bum changes, singing."
There’s a video of little Liam singing "Itsy Bisty Spider" to keep his baby brother Brody entertained at the kitchen table.
If you ask Brody what Liam loved most back then, he’ll tell you his big brother "loved Batman."
Liam always strived to be a superhero.
"Just after his third birthday, we said [to Liam], 'What do you want to be when you grow up?'" Cari recalls asking. "And he said, 'I just want to help people.'"
Liam was also three years old when he started suffering from night terrors. He struggled with going down stairs and his walking became wobbly.
"And then his left eye turned inward," Cari says, fighting back tears. "Like [it was] crossed."
Which led to Liam to be diagnosed with a DIPG brain tumour.
"It’s inoperable," Cari recalls being told. "And he’s palliative."
The video of how Liam spent the next six months, including his stay in hospital, shows the boy striving to make visitors laugh, singing them songs, and cradling the visiting babies in his three-year-old arms.
He took every opportunity to make others happy, until the infectious laughter that once lit up a room, was forever confined to a video on a phone.
"You’re in a dark, dark hole," Cari says, recalling the months after Liam’s death. "But I had a six-month-old baby you can’t forget about."
LIAM'S LEGACY
Cari says she couldn’t feel more thankful for her supportive family and her team of mental health professionals.
But she says the real turning point came when she considered what Liam would be wondering if he was in this situation.
"What can I do to make myself feel better by helping?" Cari recalls. "Help another family? Help another child?"
It inspired Cari and her sister, Lindsay Walper, to launch a national charity called The Cure Starts Now and enlist the help of Liam’s siblings and cousins.
Their events, featuring people dressed as Liam’s beloved superheroes, have raised almost $200,000 to support Canadian research into palliative paediatric brain tumours.
They’ve also taught the children in this family a lesson in caring.
If you ask Brody about the best things in life, he’ll answer with lemonade, going to waterparks, and ice cream.
If you ask if there’s one thing better, he’ll tell you about how it feels to be like his big brother Liam and help others.
"[It’s] really good," he says.
"I want to continue [Liam’s] legacy and this is it," Cari says. "This is how we do it."
By giving other families across the country hope of more laughter-filled days, and ensuring little Liam’s dream of growing up to help others comes true.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Affordability crisis could be reaching its peak in Canada, economist says
With Canada's annual inflation rate reaching the central bank's two per cent target, the country's affordability crisis could be peaking, according to an economist.
Record-breaking Lotto Max jackpot tickets sold in Ontario, Quebec
Two lucky people in Ontario and Quebec will split Tuesday’s record-breaking $80-million Lotto Max jackpot.
Rogers Communications to buy out Bell's share of MLSE for $4.7 billion
Rogers Communications Inc. is buying out Bell's 37.5 per cent share of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment for $4.7 billion, giving it 75 per cent ownership of the sports conglomerate.
Catherine, Princess of Wales, goes back to work days after cancer treatment update
Catherine, Princess of Wales has held her first engagement since revealing that she has completed her chemotherapy treatment.
8-year-old Ohio girl takes her family's SUV, drives to Target
An 8-year-old girl took an SUV from her Ohio home and drove for miles to a store where she was later found unharmed, authorities said.
Bride's family speaks as West Vancouver woman sentenced for driving SUV into wedding party
Sixty-five-year-old Hong Xu, who drove her SUV into a crowd of people celebrating a wedding at her next-door neighbour's house in West Vancouver on Aug. 20, 2022, has been sentenced under the Motor Vehicle Act for driving without due care and attention.
Ukrainian drones strike a major military depot in a Russian town northwest of Moscow
Ukrainian drones struck a large military depot in a town deep inside Russia overnight, causing a huge fire and forcing some residents to evacuate, a Ukrainian official and Russian news reports said Wednesday. At least 13 people were injured, Russia's Health Ministry added.
How to prevent lung cancer, regardless of whether you smoke, according to a doctor
More people who have never touched a cigarette are getting lung cancer, but there are ways to prevent it, according to a doctor.
This airport landing is so challenging only 50 pilots are qualified to do it
Bhutan's Paro International Airport (PBH) is widely considered one of the most technically difficult plane landings in the world. Maneuvering onto a short runway between two 18,000-foot peaks requires both technical knowledge and nerves of steel.