Kansas City Airport pays tribute to childhood cancer patient

The employees in Garver's Kansas City office utilized their relationships with the Kansas City International Airport (KCI) to organize a special tribute recently. The airport teamed up with the Kansas City Fire Department to bestow a rare water salute to an arriving plane. On board, Braden Hofen and his family were returning from what doctors believe will be the Hofens’ last vacation as a family.

Eight-year-old Braden has spent the last five years fighting a form of childhood cancer called neuroblastoma and was also recently diagnosed with pre-leukemia. The doctor's diagnosis doesn't look good.

According to the Hofens' blog, two family friends organized an online fundraiser, which raised over $20,000 for the family to help pay for a vacation, as well as the family’s growing medical bills.

The vacation sought out destinations that featured water fountains—the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Disneyland’s World of Color water feature, SeaWorld--as they are Braden’s favorite.

When the family’s plane landed at KCI, two fire trucks performed a water salute by streaming water in an arc over the taxiway. Braden’s mother said on her blog that he was thrilled.

“This is a very rare thing, reserved only for retiring pilots, and war heroes,” she wrote. “So meaningful and so beautiful. I fought tears to tape it from inside the plane.”


The water salute at KCI exemplifies how Garver and our clients collaborate for the betterment of the communities we serve. We appreciate the efforts of KCI for making this such a special occasion for Braden.