Boy, 9, with month to live gets early Christmas
A nine-year-old boy who has been given just a month to live is celebrating Christmas early with the help of thousands of international supporters, including Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Jacob Thompson has been receiving treatment for neuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer, since 2014.
In October, he was admitted to his children's hospital in Maine for the last time.
Doctors found that tumours had spread to his hip and head, and his family were told he did not have long to live.
His family are planning to celebrate Christmas early, and are asking new friends from around the world to send him Christmas cards for the special day.
On his Facebook page, Jacob Thompson's Journey, his family have requested cards decorated with his favourite animal, and urged supporters to "live like a penguin".
That means to "dive into life", "find warmth among friends" and "go the extra mile", according to the youngster's favourite poem.
Within just a few days of the appeal launching the family received hundreds of cards and gifts, and the messages – including from celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Anna Kendrick and John McCain – continue to flood in.
More than 5,000 people have followed Jacob's Facebook page, and a GoFundMe appeal for help for his funeral costs has so far raised nearly $130,000.
"He got some cards from this Halloween, and he opened up and saw them and it was like getting a gift. He read it to us and had a big smile on his face and his nose scrunched," Roger Guay, Jacob's father, told CNN. "It just brightened his day."
The family have also created a separate page, inspired by another child facing a neuroblastoma diagnosis, for families facing similar problems to share their experiences.
Fans from all over the world have called Jacob an inspiration.
When the learned that his cancer was incurable in 2015 he created a "wish list" of things he wanted to do in his life, including being a firefighter for a day and visiting a zoo.
"He's accomplished everything that he needed to do by nine years old, and a lot of people don't accomplish that, ever," his father told CNN.
He plans to celebrate Christmas with his family on 11 and 12 of November.
