Trick is a Treat

A virtually new truck is just what the doctor ordered for cancer survivor

By CHRIS PETERSON - Hungry Horse News

Sean Tedrick of Columbia Falls knew that a local shop was going to do some repairs to his old truck.

He had no idea that when they were done, it would be just about brand spanking new.

Thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Hardcore Customs and a host of other donors, the 17-year-old will soon be driving around town in one of the coolest looking tricked-out rigs in Columbia Falls.

Tedrick has been battling cancer for years now. He was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when he was 14.

He remembers the day: Oct. 24, 2004. He missed nearly all of the eighth grade. Most of the ninth.

Now he's in remission. Has one more treatment to go, his mom, Delwinna Leonhart said.

Enter the Make-A-Wish Foundation. They help kids like Tedrick. Gives them a wish within reason. The truck wasn't his first wish. First he thought about a trip to Alaska with his family. You know, a nice vacation after years of lousy cancer treatments.

But then there was the truck. The old Ford Ranger that sat at the house, barely running with a rough body and a transmission held in with just two bolts.

A rattle trap if you've ever seen one.

So Tedrick decided to ask for a few repairs on his truck.

But Hardcore Customs doesn't just do repairs. They rebuild rigs from the ground up, make them bright and shiny and new again. Restore stuff. Recreate stuff. Make old look like new like you've never seen.

So over the course of six weeks Hardcore owner Dennis Boultinghouse set his crew to work on Tedrick's truck.

His sons, Josh and Doug, and the rest of the staff went completely through the rig. The only thing they weren't allowed to do was juice up the engine (breaks Make-A-Wish rules).

They took care of that transmission, fixed the clutch, pounded out dents, went through the drive train and the rear end, completely stripped down and repainted the body and the frame, put on new wheels and tires, reupholstered the interior, put in a new bed liner, and did a host of other repairs and modifications to the rig.

Then, like a cherry on top, they put in a sweet, sweet sound system.

Businesses around the valley donated parts or materials. They include Les Schwab, Lanktree Glass, Loose Ends, Parts Plus, NAPA, Glacier Jet and Exhaust Worx.

All showed up to see Tedrick watch his truck unveiled at Hardcore's shop last Thursday.

The young man was awestruck. At a loss for words. He could just smile and smile and smile.

"I want to thanks everyone at Hardcore Customs," Tedrick said with a huge grin. "I didn't expect anything this big."

But Tedrick didn't get to drive the rig home.

The weather was lousy and it would have been a shame to take the truck out into the slush and snow.

So he had to wait a couple of days until the weather cleared a little.

Look for Tedrick. He's the kid in the way cool Ford Ranger — with a huge smile on his face.