Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!nrl-cmf!ames!mike
From: mike@ames.arpa (Mike Smithwick)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: A little help for a little boy
Message-ID: <6907@ames.arpa>
Date: 4 Apr 88 18:05:40 GMT
References: <8803301334.AA03567@work1.icase>
Reply-To: mike@ames.arc.nasa.gov.UUCP (Mike Smithwick)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Lines: 42

In article <8803301334.AA03567@work1.icase> csrobe@ICASE.ARPA (Charles S. Roberson) writes:
>I came across this where I work and thought it was worth passing on.
>I hope my fellow Atarians will forgive me for posting something totally
>unrelated, but I know how connected you guys are and I think there might
>be some sympathetic ears out there!
>
> Read this on internal MITRE mail, thought I might pass it on........
>     
>   David is a 7 year old boy who is dying from cancer.
>   Before he does, he has a dream of one day being in the Guiness Book of
>   Records for the person who has had the most postcards sent to him.
>   If you would like to help David achieve his dream, all you have to do is send
>   a postcard to him as soon as possible.
>   Send to :
          [address deleted]

Don't waste you're stamps please. This is a hoax, plain and simple. This 
story has been passed around for years, and exposed in a local 
newspaper last year. The origins of the story are shrouded in the 
dim past, but it was picked up by a British amatuer radio operator, (a 
"ham") who apparently overheard some guys talking about this little
boy. He took it upon himself to publicize it in the ham community, as 
hams traditionally send postcards ("QSL" cards) to other hams they
make contact with (the QSLs are used to prove a contact for radio contests).
Well, needless to say, the story was passed around the world quickly, and
joined the ranks of such other urban legends as the vanishing hitch-hiker,
the exploding poodle in the microwave etc. The hospital knows nothing about
a little boy named David. 

Both the hospital, and the local post office are swamped with 
literally millions of postcards a year from kids, presidents (The Reagans
sent him a note a couple of years ago), actors, and now USENETers. The 
article didn't say what they did with them, but I should hope that they
would have the presence of mind to pass them on to real kids with real
cancer.


-- 
			   *** mike (Cyberpunk in training) smithwick ***
"After all, isn't our only real purpose in life merely to make the person
 next to us slightly more insane than we are?" - Me
[disclaimer : nope, I don't work for NASA, I take full blame for my ideas]