9-year-old sells 2 chickens for $12,000 to help with brother’s cancer treatment

JANESVILLE, Wis. (WMTV/Gray News) – A 9-year-old boy in Wisconsin sold two chickens for $12,000 last week at the Rock County 4-H fair to help support a 4-year-old with cancer.

Cashton Purkapile, 4, was diagnosed with Stage 4 hepatoblastoma of the liver in mid-June.

“He has a tumor the size about six inches in diameter on his liver, and that metastasized and spread to also his lungs,” his mother Katie Purkapile said.

Family friend Andy McWilliams offered to help Cashton’s older brother, Callen, take care of his livestock and had the idea to sell them at the fair to raise money for Cashton’s cancer treatment.

“Starting Tuesday through Sunday, there are different shows, there are different sales that all the kids partake in,” McWilliams said.

Their initial goal was to raise $2,000, but community members joined forces and bought the livestock for $6,000, others matching the donation, making the grand total $12,000 for the two chickens.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s why we stay here. It’s why we do what we do. It’s why we help people,” McWilliams said. “How people pull together to help each other when they’re in need, it’s huge. You see a lot and hear a lot of the bad, and when there’s need, the good comes out of the woodwork.”

The family and McWilliams were surprised by the generosity of the Rock County community.

“The support from everyone is overwhelming and wonderful. I mean, our gratitude and thankfulness on it all is beyond what we can express most of the time,” Purkapile said.

The family said Cashton is doing great after his first five treatments, adding they are taking the diagnosis one day at a time.

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