A combination of Chautauqua County sheriff’s deputies and corrections officers from the jail and Lakeview Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility arrived at Drake McKane’s home in Mayville Wednesday, Jan. 2 to provide assistance to the family.

Law enforcement officers helped load the LEGOs from McKane’s home into vehicles before they departed. McKane was also provided with a Chautauqua County sheriff’s shirt, winter hat and a deputy badge.

In November, McKane and his family collected LEGOs to donate to the hospital that is providing him with treatment. After receiving support from the community when he was diagnosed, he and his mother, Debbie McKane, wanted to give back in some way.

The family later decided to collect and donate LEGOs to other patients at the hospital after Drake McKane began playing with the building blocks following his initial treatment.

Photo by Jordan W. Patterson Drake McKane is pictured with deputy Chad Bargar of the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office. Several deputies helped McKane, a 12-year-old from Mayville battling leukemia, deliver LEGOs to children at Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo. The delivery was the second the McKane family has organized. “Thank you for the community for coming together and making this possible again for Drake,” McKane’s mother, Debbie, said.

The first event saw 150 LEGO sets and 60 stuffed animals collected. Debbie McKane estimated another 150 sets were delivered Wednesday.

Debbie McKane said playing with LEGOs has provided her son with some sense of relief while he has been battling cancer.

“It helps, probably, because it keeps their mind content,” Debbie McKane said at the time. “It takes them away from thinking about the fact they have cancer 24/7.”

Recently, Chautauqua Lake Secondary School, where Drake McKane attends, held a LEGO collection that curated 200 pounds of new and used LEGOs. The school’s campaign was given the title of “Drake’s Journey: Building Hope with LEGOs,” a play off the name of McKane’s Facebook page, “Drake’s Journey.” Grades seven through 12 competed to collect the most amount of toys.

“Thank you for the community for coming together and making this possible again for Drake,” Debbie McKane said.

The family was shocked when Drake McKane was diagnosed with leukemia on Nov. 17, 2017. Leukemia is a form of cancer that affects a person’s blood and bone marrow.

The B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia McKane was diagnosed with is the most common form of leukemia. However, it was also determined that he possesses what’s referred to as the Philadelphia chromosome. The abnormality is observed when part of chromosome nine transfers into chromosome 22, according to the National Cancer Institute. The changed chromosome 22 received the nickname the Philadelphia chromosome. Debbie McKane said the abnormality makes it more difficult for her son to recover from leukemia and subsequent treatment.

While Drake McKane is recovering, he plays with LEGOs.

“For Drake, he’s in LEGO world when he’s building,” Debbie McKane said in November. “He’s not thinking about the fact he has cancer. He’s fully concentrated on building.”

The family hopes their continued donations of LEGOs for other cancer patients will provide some relief as it has for Drake McKane.

Drake McKane is expected to undergo treatment for at least another year. Debbie McKane said the family would like to hold another collection and delivery event in the summer.