ABC News.(NEW YORK) — A 12-year-old boy who is currently in hospice care got a chance to earn his merit badge while skiing alongside his fellow Boy Scouts at Wisconsin’s Cascade Mountain.
Frank Carpino is in hospice car as desmoid tumors that he has had since he was two weeks old have left him mostly bedridden.
When Frank’s Boy Scout troop went on a January ski trip, he was unable to go. Ron Beaulieu, a Boy Scout troop leader, called Linda Tomsevics, who is a program manager at Adaptive Adventures, to help get Frank on the slopes. The nonprofit organization makes 11 different sports, including skiing, accessible to people with disabilities.
Tomsevics told ABC News: “I said if we can figure out a way to make this happen, come hell or high water, I’m there. It was the wish of Ron who said, ‘I want to do this for one of our other troop members.’”
Tomsevics helped develop the special bi-ski that Frank used to get down the slopes at Cascade Mountain on Sunday. She skied behind Frank as he used his body to steer the bi-ski.
Frank also earned the Boy Scout’s alpine downhill skiing merit badge.
Frank’s mother, Katherine Carpino, said Frank smiled the entire time he was skiing, adding, “We expected one, maybe two or three runs if it went really well. He went down around a dozen times.”
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