SOUTH TALLAHASSEE, FL \u2014 Revving engines echoed outside Berean Christian Fellowship on Saturday as dozens of trucks lined up for one final ride honoring 3-year-old Alejandro Pablo Del Real.<\/p>\n
WATCH FULL REPORT BELOW:<\/p>\n
Monster truck parade honors 3-year-old before funeral<\/p>\n
Known to his family as Ale, the 3-year-old spent his entire life battling a rare genetic kidney disease.<\/p>\n
He endured surgeries, daily dialysis, countless hospital stays and eventually liver failure, but his family says his illness was only a small part of who he was.<\/p>\n
“There was so much more to him than all that \u2014 hilarious, super like smart, and feisty, like I said in my letter earlier to him. I mean, he knew what he wanted, he would say what he wanted, and you better do what he wanted,” Yaineli Valdes, Ale’s mom, said.<\/p>\n
Ale died just 10 days before what would have been his fourth birthday.<\/p>\n
As his family prepared to say goodbye, they had one simple request: to surround him with the monster trucks he loved. <\/p>\n
A family friend posted the idea on Facebook, hoping a few truck owners might show up. Dozens answered the call.<\/p>\n
Many of the drivers had never met Ale, they simply wanted to make one little boy’s final ride one his family would never forget.<\/p>\n
“If I could make somebody else happy with it, then that would make me happy as well,” Jacob Reiff, an FSU student, said.<\/p>\n
For some, it was simply about showing a grieving family they weren’t alone. For others, the tribute was personal.<\/p>\n
“Don’t know them, haven’t ever met them. We had a truck sitting in the yard. Why not come support the little fellow? And I had a grandson pass away when he was very little. I feel like he would have been a truck guy, so I would have done the same thing for him,” Ricky Hall, a Tallahassee neighbor, said:<\/p>\n
When Ale’s parents stepped outside and saw the long line of trucks waiting for their son, they were overwhelmed not because they recognized the faces, but because they didn’t.<\/p>\n
“For people that didn’t know my son, you know, strangers to do that for him, it definitely meant a lot, you know, and we would definitely carry that forward,” Alejandro Del Real, Ale’s father, said.<\/p>\n
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