Stranger drives across country to reunite NC boy fighting cancer with his dog

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A family who lost their Holly Ridge home in Hurricane Florence has had their world turned upside down again with a brain cancer diagnosis in their eight year old son, Perryn.

Perryn Miller, his younger brother, their parents and their dog were staying with the boys’ grandmother Donna Javaras in Hampstead after the hurricane.

They decided to visit family in Utah for Christmas, where an excruciating headache sent Perryn to the hospital. A tumor was discovered, and Perryn was scheduled for surgery to remove it.

Javaras says she got on the first plane to Utah to be by his side.

“He told me, Nana, please don’t worry. This is going to make my headaches go away,” said Javaras.

After a seven hour operation, the tumor was successfully removed. But Perryn was diagnosed with stage four glioblastoma.

“It’s not going to take Perryn,” Javaras said. “We are going to fight it every single breath we have. If I could, I’d take it from him in a second. But since that’s not possible, this Nana will fight, and fight, and fight until he’s okay.”

Javaras says they were told the altitude in Utah is what made Perryn’s headache so painful and led to the discovery of his disease.

Now he’s had some smiles, too. The West Valley, Utah, police department named him officer for the day. He got to meet his favorite soccer player, Justen Glad.

But nothing was quite right until Frank showed up. Frank is the Miller family’s 8-month-old German shepherd.

“I felt really excited to see Frank. I just really like Frank and he’s a good dog,” Perryn said.

Frank had been left behind in North Carolina until the family’s story hit social media. That’s when a former trucker named Bob Reynolds, who didn’t even know the Millers, decided to pick up Frank and drive 2,300 miles in 52 hours to deliver him.

“I never questioned why I was doing it or anything like that. I just knew something had to be done and that I could do it,” Reynolds said.

“One time when we were just laying down snuggling, a tear went down. He cried and I felt loved,” Perryn said.

So how will Frank get home? Reynolds has already volunteered to make the trip all over again.

Javaras says the family will stay in Utah for at least six weeks so Perryn can undergo chemotherapy and radiation.

She says Perryn’s father, a retired Marine Raider, and mother, are unable to work while they are in Utah. But they’re staying positive.

“They’re a strong family,” said Javaras. They’re a strong raider family. And it’s going to take a lot more than this to get them.”

If you’d like to help the family in some way, click here to view their GoFundMe page.