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New Jersey firefighters surprise family, fill pool for boy battling cancer

A New Jersey family was touched by the kindness of two fire departments, which filled the family pool so a boy battling cancer could swim this summer.

The family of a New Jersey boy battling cancer wanted to fill their pool to surprise him, but the costs of chemotherapy limited them to only two truckloads of water. That's when members of two fire stations stepped in with their own surprise, providing all five truckloads for free.

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Deven Seyler, 8, of Millstone Township, was diagnosed in March with osteosarcoma of the distal femur, cancer that developed in his leg, his mother told NJ.com.

“His diagnosis changed every single thing about our life,” Inderani Seyler told the website. “He couldn’t go to school since his chemotherapy schedule was so intense and this required my husband and myself to miss work to take him to treatments.”

Deven must travel to New York City up to five days a week for 10-11 hours of chemotherapy, according to NJ.com. He had knee-replacement surgery June 6 after being confined to a full leg cast for nearly three months.

The family bought their house in Millstone Township in March and hoped to use the pool for some of Deven's therapy.

"Deven loves to swim but he couldn't go to the community pool because of his therapy schedule and the risk of infection," Inderani Seyler told NJ.com.

The pool needed work, and after it was fixed, it needed to be refilled. They were told it would take five truckloads of water to fill the pool, but the family, trying to conserve money for Deven's chemotherapy, could only afford two.

Members of the Millstone Fire Company and the Hope Fire Company in Upper Freehold decided to donate all of the water when they arrived at the home June 27.

"The family reached out to get their pool filled but told us they could only afford to pay for two loads," Chief George Stillwell of the Hope Fire Company told NJ.com.

The firefighters also promoted the family's GoFundMe page for Deven.

"Thinking of that evening brings tears to my eyes. It was so kind out them and so unexpected," Inderani Seyler told NJ.com. "We are new to the community and this act of kindness was greatly appreciated."