Just a few hours before little goblins and ghouls set out in search of candy, four-year-old Asher Percival found himself spending Oct. 31 in the emergency room at Victoria General Hospital.
“It was pretty bad,” said his father, Gord Percival. “He was pretty lethargic and so dehydrated. That was the breaking point when we decided to take him in.”
Asher had a severe case of flu but his parents had hoped he’d be able to go trick-or-treating to even just a couple homes in their Langford neighbourhood.
“He’d picked out his costume since August,” Gord said.
The knight in shining armour costume sat unused and shortly before 7 p.m. Asher’s father made a post on the Residents of Kettle Creek Facebook group announcing Asher was in the hospital and would not be trick-or-treating.
Within minutes 75 residents commented, offering to save candy for the little boy when he was better.
Neighbour Kim Rackcliff felt bad for Asher even though she’d never met the boy. She asked on the Facebook page if residents could all be home at the same time to allow Asher to trick-or-treat when he was well.
On Nov. 2, Asher and his family visited about 30 homes, some still decked for Halloween or sporting pumpkins at the end of the driveway to signal they were participating.
“I dressed up in a witch outfit so Asher wouldn’t have been the only one dressed up,” Rackcliff said. “As an individual it’s just a small thing, but collectively it’s an amazing thing. No kid should go without Halloween.”
Some of the residents left notes with bowls of candy outside and most of residents had never even met him.
“It was heart-warming that all of these people did this for my son,” said Asher’s mom Crystal Percival.