GARDEN GROVE : Boy’s Spirits Raised by Blimp Ride

As the giant Goodyear blimp slowly approached its home base in Carson, 3-year-old Mark Vangroeningen pointed to the sky and said, “There’s the bimp! It’s coming for me!”

The Garden Grove youngster, who suffers from cancer, had two wishes: to ride in a police car and to go aloft in the famous blimp that he first spotted on a ride home from the hospital.

On Thursday, both of his wishes came true, thanks to the efforts of the Garden Grove Police Department and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Orange County, which grants the requests of children with life-threatening illnesses.

“It really boosts everybody’s spirits, because this is not something we could ever afford to do on our own,” said Mark’s 26-year-old father, Paul. “I think it’s wonderful.”

The child is scheduled to undergo a bone marrow transplant at Children’s Hospital of Orange County at the end of the month in a valiant effort to battle his neuroblastoma, a form of cancer that causes tumors of the nervous system.

Mark was diagnosed with the illness in April and has already endured five rounds of chemotherapy that caused him to lose much of his long, blond hair. He also had a major operation last month to remove a large tumor from his stomach.

“He knows he has cancer, but he doesn’t think he’s sick at all,” said his mother, 24-year-old Samantha. “Statistics say he won’t make it, but his family says he will. We’re going to beat this, no matter what it takes. This boy has got determination. He’s going to pull through this just fine.”

Garden Grove Police Sgt. George Jaramillo said the department considered granting Mark’s request an honor.

“We get an awful lot of requests for ride-alongs, but none have had the impact of this one,” Jaramillo said. “We are happy that this little boy would look to us, and we’re glad we could be of some kind of help.”

Police officers arrived at the family’s apartment Thursday morning and presented Mark with a jacket, hat and badge before taking the youngster and his family, which included his parents and brothers, Bradley, 5, and Brian, 1, off for their afternoon adventure.

“I think it’s wonderful,” said neighbor Pat Dobson, who was among those who gathered to see the family off. “(Mark) is a beautiful child, a real sweetheart. Every day that I see his face is a happy day.”

The family was taken to the Goodyear airfield in Carson by police car, complete with motorcycle escort.

“He got a real kick out of stopping traffic,” Paul Vangroeningen said as they arrived at the airfield.

After the 45-minute ride in the sky, Mark, who initially appeared frightened by all of the media attention he received, was smiling from ear to ear and looking forward to an afternoon pizza party that his family would be driven to in a chauffeured limousine.

“He just loved it,” his father said as he carried a clearly thrilled Mark away from the blimp. “His face just says it all.”