Teen with only months to live gets dream car from dad, special invitation from Ford

A cancer-stricken teen with only months to live recently got his dream car. The 18-year-old also received a special invitation from the CEO of the Ford Motor Company.

The teenager's father, Joe Tegerdine, explained why he gifted his son a Ford Mustang in a post shared on the X social media platform earlier this month.

Tegerdine wrote, "For those wondering why I’d buy my 18yr old son a 330hp Mustang, well, he’s been given months to live and can’t work long enough to buy one himself. His comment on the way home, 'Dad, I’m going to squeeze a few extra months of life just to be able to drive this.'"

The tweet concluded with the hashtag: #cancersucks.

The post shared on March 2 went viral with nearly 8,000 retweets, more than 177,000 likes, and almost 14 million views.

The tweet also caught the eye of Ford CEO Jim Farley — who replied by saying, "Hi Joe, I’m so sorry to hear what your family is going through. Please let me know if you and your son would like to attend @FPRacingSchool to experience a @FordMustang Dark Horse on the track. DM me and we’ll make it happen."

Tegerdine connected with Farley about the special invitation for his son Joseph to attend the Ford Performance Racing School.

Tegerdine told the Detroit Free Press, "It was really crazy. That tweet was just kind of random. He sent a direct message to me, saying, 'Hey, you want me to do this?' If it's OK, his guys would get everything set up ... at the Ford Performance Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. They're flying us out there. It's just really cool, and we'll stay in Charlotte for a couple of days. There's a big dinner before school. Then Joseph will be on the track with the (Mustang) Dark Horse."

Joseph said of the offer, "I don't know how to drift. I've always been too scared to go to a parking lot to figure that out, because I'd just hit a light pole or something. I need an instructor, a trainer. Also, I get to drive one of the most powerful Ford track Mustangs there is. This is going to be sick."

The Mustang Dark Horse boasts a 5.0L Ti-VCT V8 engine with 500 horsepower and 418-pound feet of torque. Joseph will get to drive the powerful Ford on the track at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Joseph said he is excited about his own Mustang since it's his dream car.

"I've just liked Mustangs for as long as I can remember. Six-year-old me liked it, the headlights looked cool, and I stuck with it," Joseph explained. "I used to drive this Ford Bronco. It was a big truck, basically. I'd get compliments and I'd feel so manly. We sold that and I started driving my mom's minivan, a Honda Odyssey. I felt like my testosterone was being drained away. Not great."

"You have to live day by day because, day by day, if you look at my life, it’s actually fantastic," Joseph said. "I'm in Japan right now. I've got a car of my dreams, I'm surrounded by tons of people I absolutely adore and I'm going to driving school."

Joseph is also cognizant that he likely only has months to live because of a terminal bone cancer called osteosarcoma.

According to the Mayo Clinic, "Osteosarcoma is a kind of cancer that begins in the cells that form bones. Osteosarcoma tends to happen most often in teenagers and young adults. But it also can happen in younger children and older adults. Osteosarcoma can start in any bone. It's most often found in the long bones of the legs, and sometimes the arms."

Joseph said, "Then you look at the future, and it all starts to break down. I don't really need to look at the future. Morbidly, I don’t really have one. I can’t be, like, 'In a year —' If I get a year, I’ll be extremely lucky."

The father said of his son's cancer diagnosis, "When my son was first diagnosed I had to make a decision. Either curse God and die or try to make the best of a really bad situation. With the perspective of what it would be like to experience sudden loss, I decided to be grateful. Grateful that we’ve had the 18 years to build memories and enjoy him."

"Even now, with the only treatments left to prolong life and manage pain, I’m thankful he’s still with us, squeezing out the best that life can offer under less than ideal circumstances," Tegerdine said. "My heart is still broken, but I know it could be a lot worse."

He noted, "Over the years, I’ve known many parents who have lost their children to sudden tragedy, who never got a chance to say goodbye."

The family is currently on vacation in Japan.

However, Joseph will continue radiation treatment and chemo, plus he'll need to undergo surgery when he gets back home.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!