6-year-old to play 100 holes of golf in memory of friend who succumbed to cancer

Published Jun. 11, 2015 11:10 a.m. ET

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Ryan McGuire is a 6-year-old from Foxboro, Massachusetts. On Wednesday, he will pay the ultimate tribute to his friend, Danny Nickerson, who died after being stricken with cancer.

From the golffightscancer site:

Hi. My name is Ryan McGuire and I'm almost 6 years old. I love sports. Especially golf. On Wednesday, June 17th, I get to skip school and play as many holes of golf as I can to raise money in memory of my friend, Danny. Some people I know have had cancer and are OK now. I want to help Danny's doctor so kids with DIPG have more hope to beat their cancer, too. All of the money I raise with go towards Dr. Mark Kieran's research at Dana Farber. Thank you for helping me towards my goal of $5,000. And thanks for your gift in memory of Danny.

Danny Nickerson was the little boy diagnosed with cancer whose wish for his fifth birthday was to receive cards on his birthday. The world responded to his wish, sending him more than 750,000 cards from all over the world.

Danny died at age 6 at the end of April after suffering a rare, inoperable brain tumor.

Ryan's mom, Cheryl McGuire, the Program Director for Golf Fights Cancer, said: "While its atypical to talk about cancer with kids this young, given the nature of my work, cancer is not a taboo subject. The event allows him to talk about it in a positive light.

"It also facilitates conversations with family and friends that have had cancer and beat it. Ryan didn't know, until we recently told him, that his grandfather is a cancer survivor. And 'Bear' as he calls him, will be his chosen caddy for Ryan's marathon efforts."

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