6-Year-Old Liam Waldron Crashes Car to Fulfill A Special Wish

While most children might consider a trip to Walt Disney World a wish of a lifetime come true, six-year-old cancer survivor Liam Waldron's wish is to become a vehicle impact manger so that he can conduct his own real-world crash test.

In fact, the Mentor, Ohio native is so infatuated with cars and crash safety that while undergoing treatment for Osteosarcoma, an aggressive bone cancer, he asked A Special Wish Foundation Cleveland Chapter (ASW) to help him make his special wish come true. In response, ASW sprang into action, enlisting the assistance of Humanetics Innovative Solutions and FCA US LLC to make Liam's wish a reality on October 21, 2015.

To view the video associated with this release, please click: https://youtu.be/SAsR5QwEwaA

However, before he assumed his new duties as “Vehicle Impact Manger for a Day”, he was off to Humanetics Innovative Solutions in Plymouth, Michigan to learn how crash test dummies are designed and created.   

“We were very excited to meet Liam and to welcome him into the Humanetics family. Liam is an incredibly intelligent boy and an inspiration to us all. His knowledge of car safety knows no bounds,” said Christopher J. O’Connor, President and CEO of Humanetics. “To be a part of such a unique wish has been extremely rewarding for us here at Humanetics. I have no doubt that Liam will accomplish big things throughout his life.”

Next stop – the FCA US Chelsea Proving Grounds in Chelsea, Michigan. Upon his arrival, Liam, accompanied by his parents, Wendy and Gerald Waldron, was greeted by members of the FCA US Vehicle Impact team and presented with his official employee badge -- making him the youngest employee in the company’s history.

“Once we learned that Liam wanted to be an Impact Manager for a day, the ideas of what we could do just snowballed,” said Douglas Grimm, Impact Operations Supervisor – Chelsea Proving Grounds, FCA US LLC. “We constructed a full day of activities that would give him an idea of what it’s like to be a vehicle impact engineer.”

Liam's To-Do List included:

• Assisting with test preparation and camera setup at crash barrier
• Taking a family picture with a Dodge Viper at the Mopar Garage
• Touring the crash test facility
• Rolling a Dodge Viper to check for fuel leaks
• Reviewing Crash testing protocol
• Road testing a Dodge Charger Hellcat

Finally, with all of the preparations set for a top secret test crash, Liam pushed the button sending a vehicle down the track for a 40 mph 40-degree off-set barrier test. Afterwards, Liam put his team on notice for the future.

“I want to work here,” Liam said. “Maybe do meetings... maybe I’ll do some crash testing while I’m here, too.”

A Special Day for Everyone
“To see something like this, that’s been his wish for such a long time, is just amazing,” said Liam’s mom, Wendy Waldron. “And he’s having just a blast.”

“It’s so rewarding for us and everyone that’s involved,” said Jason Beudert, co-founder, A Special Wish Foundation - Cleveland. “We’re so lucky to sit back and watch the kindness of our community. This wonderful automotive community really stepped up to the plate.”

More About Liam

• “Liam has been fascinated by automobiles since he was 3 years old. He could identify make and model for about 90% of cars on the road at that age,” said his father Gerald Waldron.
• Liam was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma (bone cancer) just shy of his 5th birthday in 2014. Given so much downtime in treatment at the hospital and recovery at home, he became interested in crash tests and safety ratings for vehicles.
• He now regularly critiques cars he sees on the road based on his knowledge of their (IIHS) Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash test ratings.

About A Special Wish
Voted Best Children's Charity in Northeast Ohio, A Special Wish Foundation Cleveland Chapter (ASW) is the ONLY Cleveland-based wish granting foundation, granting wishes for Cleveland-area children with life threatening diseases between birth and twenty years of age. Currently, we are granting wishes for 44 wish children & their families at the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital, UH Rainbows Babies & Children's Hospital, and the Ronald McDonald House Cleveland House. 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/aspecialwishcleveland
Twitter: @aspecialwishcle
Website: www.aspecialwishcleveland.org

About Humanetics Innovative Solutions
Humanetics Innovative Solutions, a division of Safety Technology Holdings, Inc., is a global company whose strategy is to harness the best of today's technologies for the creation of high-quality products which play an important role in improving safety, comfort and protection of people and their environment. Humanetics is the world’s leading supplier in the design and manufacture of sophisticated crash test dummies, associated technical support and laboratory services and load cell crash wall systems. Furthermore, Humanetics develops and supplies finite element software dummy models for computerized crash test simulations and specializes in static and dynamic strain measurements. For additional information on Humanetics, visit www.humaneticsatd.com.

About FCA US LLC
FCA US LLC is a North American automaker with a new name and a long history. Headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, FCA US is a member of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) family of companies. FCA US designs, engineers, manufactures and sells vehicles under the Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and FIAT brands as well as the SRT performance vehicle designation. The company also distributes the Alfa Romeo 4C model and Mopar products. FCA US is building upon the historic foundations of Chrysler, the innovative American automaker first established by Walter P. Chrysler in 1925; and Fiat, founded in Italy in 1899 by pioneering entrepreneurs, including Giovanni Agnelli.

FCA, the seventh-largest automaker in the world based on total annual vehicle sales, is an international automotive group. FCA is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FCAU” and on the Mercato Telematico Azionario under the symbol “FCA