‘Hero' 8-year-old son of retired NYPD officer succumbs to rare brain cancer
The 8-year old son of retired NYPD Lt. Eric Dym has died after touching the hearts of those who learned of his courageous battle against brain cancer.
'Derek fought so hard,' his broken-hearted dad told The Post. 'This cancer is just a monster.'
The boy, who loved Minecraft, swimming, and art, died peacefully on May 1 — 14 months after being diagnosed with DMG Glioma, an aggressive cancer which strikes about 300 children a year in the US.
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4 Derek Dym, the 8-year-old son of retired NYPD Lt. Eric Dym, has died after a 14-month battle with brain cancer.
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'We always thought if anybody could beat it, it would be Derek,' said Dym, an ex-Marine and co-host of a New York City-based podcast on policing.
The youngster's brave struggle — 'he never complained,' Dym said — sparked an overwhelming response. A GoFundMe campaign raised nearly $600,000 to help the family pay expenses.
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The cancer started with headaches, striking while Dym, his wife Luiza, Derek and daughter Ellie, 3, were living in Bali after selling their home to travel through Asia on the adventure of a lifetime.
Leaving everything behind, the Dyms rushed to LA, the closest US city with a children's hospital.
4 Eric Dym, wife Luiza, son Derek, 8, and daughter Ellie, 3, lived in an RV near Children's Hospital Los Angeles during the boy's treatment.
Courtesy of Eric Dym
While they stayed in an RV, Derek underwent radiation and oral chemotherapy for the tumor, which could not be surgically removed because of its location in the brain.
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On their own, the Dyms also purchased costly alternative treatments such as a sound-therapy machine and a device using low-frequency electric fields aimed at destroying cancer cells.
But Derek's condition steadily worsened.
4 NYPD Lt. Eric Dym in Times Square, shortly before he retired in 2022, with son Derek and daughter Ellie.
Courtesy of Eric Dym
He entered hospice on March 5, and Laguna Beach police officers escorted the family to an apartment where Derek could get comfort care at home.
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'We were fighting two parallels. For one, we knew it wasn't curable. And the other was that doctors aren't God, and we were hoping for a miracle, so we weren't going to give up.'
Derek fell into 'a deep sleep' on Easter Sunday, Dym said.
4 Friends of the Dym family created this tribute to Derek after he passed away.
Credit Courtesy Eric Dym
Little sister Ellie kept asking, 'When's he going to play? When's he going to start talking? When's he going to walk again?' Dym said.
Derek did not wake up. 'We told her that Derek went to live with God, and she said she wants to go live with God, too.'
'I'll always remember YOU as my hero,' Dym said of his son on X. 'Until we meet again, I will only have good memories.'
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