Teen Passed Away From Cancer Months After Ford CEO Grants Him Pure Dream Experience

@JoeTegerdine via X

In May 2019, a teenager named Joseph Tegerdine was diagnosed with osteosarcoma bone cancer. The cancer spread, and in 2022, it was also found in his hip and bones. He had surgery and chemotherapy.

In 2024, the cancer spread again. This time it was found in his lungs. Joseph’s mother, Kerry Tegerdine, told FOX News Digital that it was at that point that they decided that needed to focus on checking off the things on her son’s bucket list.

One of those things was owning a Ford Mustang. Joseph’s father, Joe Tegerdine, made that wish come true, but that wasn’t the end of the Ford dream.

Joe posted about his son’s Mustang on X, and Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford Motors, contacted Joe when he saw the post. He offered father and son a trip to the Ford Performance Racing School in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they could drive a Ford Mustang Dark Horse.

In April 2024, the father and son took that dream trip. Joe explained, “He [Joseph] was like, ‘Dad, I don’t care if you have to roll me in on a gurney, I’m going to this driving school.” He added that his son “had the most energy I’ve seen in months, just a super big smile and super excited.”

Now, months later, Joe is breaking the sad news that his son has died. In a post on X, he wrote, “I didn’t realize when I became a father that it had the potential of being the greatest source of joy and the greatest source of pain in my life.” He added, “Joseph may no longer be physically with us, but I know he’ll be ever present in our lives.”

In another post, Joe thanked the X community and the people who were so kind and generous to his family during Joseph’s cancer battle, including Farley. He wrote, “@jimfarley98 and @FordPerformance thank you for giving him an experience of a lifetime. He wasn’t able to do much after that trip so the timing was perfect.”