Fact Check

Christmas Card Appeal: Dalton Dingus

Christmas cards are requested for Dalton Dingus, a 9-year-old boy with cystic fibrosis.

Published Dec. 6, 2012

Claim:

Claim:   Christmas cards are requested for Dalton Dingus, a 9-year-old boy with cystic fibrosis.


OUTDATED


Example:   [Collected via e-mail, December 2012]


This is something you could feel good about this Christmas. A small deed done cheaply.

In Salyersville, Kentucky there is a brave little 9-year-old boy named Dalton who has been living with Cystic Fibrosis and has recently become increasingly sick. He recently was allowed to come home, medical supplies in tote to be closer to his loved ones.

Anyone who would like to participate in sending Dalton a Christmas card be sure to include your city and state so he can see how far the support has come from. The earlier the cards the better! THANK YOU all in advance! Dalton will love receiving these cards.

Sends cards to:
Dalton Dingus
HC 62
Box 1249
Salyersville, KY 41465



 

Origins:   As reported by Lexington television station WLEX,9-year-old Kentucky resident Dalton Dingus, who had been living with cystic fibrosis, returned home from the hospital to celebrate Christmas early in 2012 due to the severity of his condition:

Cincinnati television station WXIX also reported on Kentucky Troopers' paying a visit to Dalton at his home:



Kentucky Troopers paid a visit to a Facebook fan at home.

Dalton Dingus is 9-years-old. He's a fan of the Kentucky State Police, and follows the Post 9 Troopers on Facebook.

He also has Cystic Fibrosis.

Dalton came home from the hospital to celebrate Christmas early this year, due to the severity of his condition.

After hearing about their young fan, Post 9 troopers came to hang out with Dalton at his home near Lexington.

Dalton told the post he'd like to make the Kentucky State Police (KSP) Facebook page because "KSP has the best Facebook friends".


The Facebook page for the Kentucky state Police displays pictures of Dalton posing with Post 9 troopers:

In November 2012, Dalton received a visit from "Banjo Neal" James of Call of the Wildman:

The Morehead State University softball team spent the afternoon of 7 December 2012 collecting Christmas cards for Dalton.

On 11 December 2012, Lexington, Kentucky, television station WLEX reported that Dalton had "set a new Guinness World Record for receiving the most Christmas cards":



A Magoffin County boy is breaking records while fighting for his life. Dalton Dingus is fighting cystic fibrosis, a lung disease, and the nine-year-old has also been trying to set a new Guinness World Record for receiving the most Christmas cards. He [has] passed the record of 35,000 cards, but he wants to make the record untouchable.

"He wants to open all the boxes," says his mom, Jessica Dingus. "He wants to know how many cards he's got. He gets really excited."

Too many to fit in the house, piles of Christmas cards addressed to Dalton fill boxes on their front porch. Jessica reads the thousands and thousands of cards to her son. Dalton's favorite is a gingerbread man that dances and sings.

The drive started as a post on Facebook. Dalton was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was four and a half years old. A post on facebook said he wanted Christmas cards for Christmas this year. From there, it became a movement that is inspiring people around the world, from his home in Magoffin County, to as far as Australia and Guatemala. People everywhere are sending Dalton Christmas cards, something he and is family are so thankful for.


A Facebook page ("Cards for Dalton") was established to solicit Christmas cards for Dalton, as was another ("Dalton's Destroyers") for cystic fibrosis awareness.

Dalton passed away in January 2013.

Last updated:   14 January 2013


Sources:




    Bryan, Alix.   "Young Boy Hopes to Break Guinness Record Before He Dies."

    WTVR-TV [Richmond, VA].   11 December 2012.

    Jackson, Allie.   "Ky. Boy Who Broke Christmas Card World Record Has Died."

    Athens Banner-Herald.   14 January 2013.

    Spinosa, Bianca.   "Child Fighting Late Stage Cystic Fibrosis Breaks Record

."

    WLEX-TV [Lexington, KY].   11 December 2012.

    Taylor, Kelly.   "KY Troopers Visit Facebook Fan with Cystic Fibrosis."

    WXIX-TV [Cincinnati, OH].   4 December 2012.

    WKYT-TV [Lexington, KY].   "MSU Softball Players Step Up to Help Boy Beat World Record."

      8 December 2012.

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.