a Bloomfield Hills teenager battling
brain cancer is getting support from one
of Hollywood's biggest stars Liam was
diagnosed last fall his fight is only
beginning and to help inspire him he
recently got to meet his hero
Jamie Edmonds shows us how Liam's wish
took him to Minnesota 17-year old Liam
Fairbanks has a lot to pack and still a
lot to think about before tomorrow I
probably won't be excited for Liam
tomorrow's trip is about escaping from
all that he's been through different
routines and schedules throughout this
whole time it's like there's different
days during the radiation because you
wake up and do that instead of school
last fall Liam could tell something was
off when he ran he thought it was a hip
flexor then later something else when he
was playing basketball at a certain
point he was having trouble he noticed
in PE dribbling a basketball with his
left hand and then it became an issue
for him to try to type with his left
hand his mom Heather took him all over
Metro Detroit for answers then a
prognosis no one could believe your son
has an infiltrative brain tumor on the
right side and it's inoperable
after the shock came a biopsy and then
radiation do the chemo every four weeks
for five days you know he spent his 17th
birthday at my Children's Hospital
not really knowing when he was gonna be
able to go home the family calls those
the dark days the next 24 hours will be
all about light thanks to Rochester
based Rainbow Connection we grant wishes
to children all over the state of
Michigan between the ages of 3 and 18
that have been diagnosed with a
life-threatening medical condition a few
months ago
rainbow connections Ingrid Todd met with
Liam and his mom for a wish meeting they
kind of came up to me first and asked a
lot of questions about whatever my
interests turns out Liam is a big fan of
Mark Wahlberg and his movies I like the
Transformers runs the daddy's home when
I
like invincible which is the football
and Todd was able to grant the wish
somebody knew somebody who knew somebody
two of our board members actually
started engaging in this process and we
got a phone call one day and they said
hey Mark Wahlberg has heard about Liam
and he wants to meet him
hence the packing inside Liam's
Bloomfield Hills bedroom and the
googling Google Marky Mark there he is
the very next day Wahlberg opened up a
new wall burgers in the Mall of America
in Minneapolis Liam was there as the VIP
guest I just I just work hard to try to
be the best person that can be every day
you know I grew up in a pretty tough
environment and I was able to thank God
to turn my life around so anytime I can
give anybody a word of encouragement or
give anybody a little positivity it's a
beautiful thing that's when you're
supposed to do your strength to Wahlberg
it may not be that grand of a gesture
sharing a burger chatting about life but
for Liam this dinner is a wish come true
it was fun it was uplifting it was
something he'll take back to Michigan as
his fight continues Liam's mom says he's
getting through this tough time with
faith optimism and humor and of course
the support of family and friends and
now Mark Wahlberg the Rainbow Connection
is a local nonprofit based in Rochester
totally reliant on donations they grant
160 to 170 wishes per year to children
in the state of Michigan Jamie Edmunds
local four great organizations sweet
Liam I guess googled nice to celebrities
mark him and clearly he delivered to
Beck's way it is that's great