LAKE WORTH — On Monday Feb. 10, local Lake Worth boy, Nathan Torres, received a warm welcome from Lake Worth Police and Fire departments at the Texas Movie Bistro in Lake Worth. Torres’ whole family showed up for the surprise and to see the movie with him. Torres’ mom, Emily Garcia, said this made her son feel so special.
Torres saw the movie Dog Man that day.
Torres is 11 years old and was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2024. He has undergone two operations to remove the cancer and his family thought he was in the clear. Then around Thanksgiving, Torres’ scan showed that the cancer has moved to his lungs. Nathan and the school counselor came up with a bucket list which included a movie date with his family.
“It made him feel shy, but it also made him feel special and he thought it was cool that he got to see the fire trucks and meet some of the people in the department,” Garcia said. “He wasn’t expecting all of that, he only knew he was going to the movies. It was kind of a surprise but when we came back home later that night, he expressed his feelings by saying he had so much fun at the movies and that he had a good day.”
Garcia said because of her son’s cancer, his days can vary from day to day in terms of how he feels emotionally.
“Some days are kind of hard, but I’ve noticed that keeping him busy when he has the energy helps him and hanging out with his friends from school or even just playing online with them on his PS5 helps,” Garcia said. “It doesn’t make him feel so isolated from the world even though that’s kind of what his life is now. But just like those good days, he also tends to question me if he’s going to be OK, or what will the doctors do if his cancer comes back in a different spot. I just do my best to always remind him he’ll be OK and the doctors are very smart. Those conversations seem to help him out.”
Garcia offered some words of encouragement to parents who have kids going through childhood cancer.
“My advice to other parents going through the same thing would be to just enjoy what you can,” Garcia said. “Life is unpredictable, and you never know what the next day will bring. Enjoy your time with your baby, soak up all the smiles and laughs, even all the cries because at some point we won’t have that anymore. All the feelings we feel are normal and valid and it’s OK to cry, but for the most part if we can stay strong as parents, it helps the little ones. It makes them feel like they shouldn’t have to be scared or worried about doctors’ visits. In my household, we take it one day at a time and sometimes that’s even hard to do, but it works.”
Lake Worth Police Chief J.T. Manoushagian said the department learned Torres’ story through an SRO and the welcoming was an honor for them to participate in.
“We learned about Nathan’s story from one of our school resource officers, which highlights the important role police officers play in the lives of our students and their families,” Manoushagian said. “Being able to play a small part in a special day for Nathan and his family was a tremendous honor for all of us. I pray that a day at the movies is one of many memories this family will make with their precious son in the coming weeks.”
School Resource Officer Jones initiated the information about Torres to the police department who set the surprise evening up.
