WETHERSFIELD, Conn. -- In the two years since being diagnosed with brain cancer, a 10-year-old Wethersfield boy has been a source of inspiration for nearly everyone he meets.

When Ben Goldman was 8 years old, doctors detected an inoperable tumor in his brain.

"My body was changing, and I went to the doctors' for a checkup, and she just wanted to have kind of an idea of what was going on," Ben said. "Everyone agrees that there isn't a safe way to remove it without causing damage.

"It all came at me very fast, but you know it's easier said than done, that we're going to get through this easy, we're going to have a good attitude. It's very hard."

After his diagnosis, Ben became determined to reach out and inform people about his disease and to encourage others going through difficult times.

Ben began using his love of music, which budded when his parents gave him a keyboard when he was 6 months old, to raise money for the hospital where he received chemotherapy.

"I'm doing music. I've made CDs, a couple CDs," Ben said.

Ben said he donates the majority of the money from the CDs to Connecticut Children's Medical Center.

"Ben Goldman is more than just an everyday hero, he's a lifetime hero. I think when you meet someone of his age, his aptitude, facing what he's facing -- he's really a special, special young man." -- Jim Calhoun UConn Men's Basketball Coach

"Most of the money goes to CCMC, the clinic where I got chemo every Friday," he said.

Ben also began speaking publicly about the importance of maintaining a positive attitude no matter the situation. He's spoken to rotary clubs, church groups and fellow campers at the Whole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford.

Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Scot Haney reported that all who have heard Ben's story have walked away inspired.

University of Connecticut men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun said he was touched by Ben's story as well.

"Ben Goldman is more than just an everyday hero, he's a lifetime hero," Calhoun said. "I think when you meet someone of his age, his aptitude, facing what he's facing -- he's really a special, special young man."

Ninety-two-year-old Burchard Marshall, of Norwich, said Ben is responsible fore the best day of his life.

During one of Ben's speeches, he met Marshall.

"I remember he told me that when he was younger, they didn't let him go into the white bathroom," Ben said.

Burchard was a baseball player with big dreams when he was younger. He played for teams such as the New London Colored Elks and the Norwich Yellow Jackets. However, Burchard said he never got to play for the team of his dreams -- the Boston Red Sox.

Burchard said that decades ago, a Sox scout came to look at a player on an opposing team -- all all-white team.

"He said, 'There's the fellow we came to get,' and he said, 'Yeah, but the colored fellow is catching rings around him,'" Burchard said.

Burchard was never picked and said his dream remained unfulfilled until he met Ben.

After hearing Marshall's story, Ben contacted Red Sox owner Larry Lukino and asked if Marshall could be honored at Fenway.

"He said, 'Sure, we can get him up, we can have him put the ball on the mound for the first pitch, have a pre-game ceremony," Ben said. "We went in a limousine."

"Never did I think that I'd walk up there and have pictures taken of me going up and putting the ball down on the mound," Marshall said.

When asked if his day at Fenway was a memorable one, Marshall replied, "Best I'll ever have. He (Ben) helped me."

Ben said according to his doctors, he has a 70 percent chance for reoccurrence of his cancer.

"You know, you just take it day by day," Ben said. "I'm the 30 (percent)."

More Information:

Link: Ben Goldman's Page

Contact: Mary Goldman for Ben's CDs, dial 860-513-1167

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