Joseph Tegerdine, the teen who made headlines after a Ford CEO gifted him a special drive in a Mustang Dark Horse, has lost his battle with cancer.
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Joseph’s father, Joe, shared the heartbreaking news on November 22 in an X post, saying, “Words cannot express the depth of grief that he has moved on, nor the tremendous joy that he is no longer suffering.”
“I look forward to the day that he and I will be able to run and jump and play together again,” he added. “I appreciate all of the love and support we received from the 𝕏 community.”
I awoke to Joseph’s shallow breathing at 02:50 this morning, it’s something we’ve been expecting for months. We sat at his bedside and comforted him until his last breath at 03:14. Words cannot express the depth of grief that he has moved on, nor the tremendous joy that he is no… pic.twitter.com/3YpG9ajkZc
— Joe Tegerdine (@JoeTegerdine) November 22, 2024
In the tribute, Joe also thanked Jim Farley, the Ford CEO who flew Joseph to the Ford Performance Racing School in Charlotte, N.C., where Joseph took a Dark Horse for a drive on a racetrack.
Teen With Terminal Cancer Drives Dream Mustang On Racetrack
Jim’s gesture went viral in March. According to Fox News, it all began when Joe posted a photo of Joseph in a new Mustang. The then 18-year-old had been battling osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer. After years of treatment, doctors determined that the cancer was terminal, so the family began working on Joseph’s bucket list, which included owning a Mustang.
“For those wondering why I’d buy my 18-year-old son a 330hp Mustang, well, he’s been given months to live and can’t work long enough to buy one himself. His comment on the way home, ‘Dad, I’m going to squeeze a few extra months of life just to be able to drive this.’ #cancersucks,” Joe wrote in the post.
Jim Farley noticed the post and, with the help of Ford Racing School, flew the Tegerdine family to the track, where they gave Joseph a VIP experience. In his most recent post, Joe shared that his son’s health quickly began deteriorating after that trip, so he will forever be grateful that Jim gave him the memory.
Speechless! So much fun and the custom helmets in Joseph’s words, “sick!” Our faces are going to hurt from smiling all day!!@FPRacingSchool @jimfarley98 @Ford @FordMustang pic.twitter.com/dVlO4E88ON
— Joe Tegerdine (@JoeTegerdine) April 12, 2024
“@jimfarley98 and @FordPerformance thank you for giving him an experience of a lifetime,” he wrote. “He wasn’t able to do much after that trip so the timing was perfect.”
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