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December 15, 2003
THE DAILY STAR
Bikers take dying girl on holiday shopping trip
By Ella Nayor
Contributing writer
ONEONTA NY— A burly group of motorcyclists became temporary Santas on Sunday to fulfill the wishes of a dying Charlotville girl.
The Motorcycles Ice cream Run for Kids Sake and Wal-Mart co-sponsored an estimated $1,100 shopping spree for Lily Boynton, 7, Sunday morning at Wal-Mart on Southside.
The tiny shopper carefully selected clothes, toys and costume jewelry for what likely will be her last couple of weeks of life because of cancer, said event coordinator Ray Seyforth.
Seyforth is the founder of the Ice cream Run, an event that raises money annually for seriously ill children such as Lily. The biker group has a run every year through the Catskills. Riders raise money during the run and stop for ice cream at every stop along the way, Seyforth said. The next ice cream run will be July 3.
The group partnered with Wal-Mart to fund Lily's shopping spree. Seyforth was even dressed in a Santa suit. Members of the American Spirit motorcycle Club, who participate in the Ice cream run, also were at the shopping spree.
"This is just great," said Debbie Fuller, Wal-Mart event coordinator. "It's major important. This is something we got to do for the kids."
Lily flashed a huge toothy smile as she strolled down the busy aisles picking out pink and purple shirts — her favorite colors.
"I want this one," Lily said as she tugged on a little purple tie-dyed shirt.
One of the black leather-clad bikers quickly grabbed the clothing item for her.
Her bubbly charm helps overshadow her yellowed skin and intermittent cough.
The sparkly-eyed girl is afflicted with a rare cancer for which there is no cure, said Helen Boynton, Lily's grandmother.
The cancer is called hepablastoma, a childhood cancer of the liver, in which the only hope is a liver transplant, said Boynton. But for Lily that hope was squashed when the liver she received in a transplant two years ago recently became cancerous.
Boynton and her husband, Ronald, Lily's caretakers, have been unsuccessful in convincing doctors to replace her liver.
"We tried everywhere," Helen Boynton said.
The soft-spoken grandmother said now she is just concentrating on making Lily's last days on earth happy.
"She's a wonderful kid," she said. "She's a fighter."
The Charlotteville grandparents were thrilled at the biker group's generosity. Helen Boynton sobbed as the bikers, both men and women, gently guided Lily through the store.
The black leather, bandannas and shaggy beards could not hide the biker's swelling emotions.
"It's fun," Seyforth said. "Were just hoping she's going to enjoy it."
By the end of the spree, Lily had stacked three carts full of Barbie dolls, clothes and lots of girlish accessories. And like most wary shoppers, the bikers and Lily topped off the busy morning with lunch at the in-store McDonald's.
Obituary: Illianna BoyntonCHARLOTTEVILLE — Illianna "Lily" Boynton, 7, passed away Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2004, at Albany Medical Center after a long illness with cancer.
Lily was born Aug. 20, 1996, in Oneonta, the daughter of Casey Boynton and Tonya Davenport.
Lily was in the first grade at Charlotte Valley Central School in Davenport.
She is survived by her grandparents, Ronald and Helen Boynton, of Charlotteville; her father, Casey, and her stepmother, Amanda Boynton, of Otego; sisters, Felicity Boynton and Carissa Fernia; mother, Tonya Davenport of Middleburgh; grandparents, Don and Tammy Davenport of Central Bridge and Regina Bailey of Middleburgh; godparents, Trina and Jeff Lengel of Charlotteville; and many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.
Thank you to everyone for your help, support, and love you have shown us and Lily and for just being there in our darkest hours. Your kindness will never be forgotten.
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