"When he sees that people are pulling for him, it makes him want to take the extra step," said Mike Love, Trey's dad.
Trey's voice, along with the right side of his 4-year-old body, has been rendered useless by the Stage Four Neuroblastoma doctors re-discovered two weeks ago.
We first met Trey just days after that rare diagnosis, which came with the grimmest prognosis. The cancer Mike and Missy Love once thought their son had beaten, will now likely take Trey's life, maybe in a matter of weeks or months.
But in a moment of when they must have felt so alone, Trey and his family found company they never could have expected.
"Oh my goodness, the response from the community has been unbelievable," said Missy.
After we featured his story on Action News, the community rallying around the Loves swelled to numbers beyond anyone's expectation. Viewers filled the family's e-mail inbox with notes of support, and their mailbox with financial support, to help keep Mike and Missy by Trey's side rather than at work, during whatever waning time may be left.
At vigils like one in University City recently, the crowds have exceeded capacity, with each participant hoping for a miracle.
Though Mike and Missy are still praying for that miracle, they got one very big prayer answered. In the minutes after our first story aired, an anonymous donor called me and offered to pay for Trey and his parents to get back to /*Walt Disney World*/, the last place they saw their little boy be a little boy. They will take that trip in May.
"Thank you is not even enough. There are just no words to express awesome it is," said Missy.
But maybe best of all, recent tests of Trey's bone marrow, tests that should have shown cancer coursing through his bones, came up clear. And Monday, as our camera rolled, Trey walked for the first time.
Though neither fact will likely change Trey's long-term prognosis, it does mean that for parents seeking every last minute they can get with their child, there may be more minutes, and from their child, more inspiration.
"We just want to enjoy life every day and do as much fun stuff as we can," said Mike Love.
To see more Action News reports about Trey Love click here.
