A heartbroken father has paid tribute to his 'inspiring' son, who died aged just 18 after a five-year struggle with bone cancer — which the family mistook for growing pains.
Joseph Tegerdine, from Utah, started to complain of pains in his knee in 2019, when he was 13.
The sensation mostly arrived after playing football and during a 'sudden growth spurt' leading his father, Joe Sr, to tell their son that bone pain was natural for his stage of life.
However, when the pain didn't subside the family sought help at the local hospital, where Joseph underwent an X-ray and an MRI scan.
The results showed he had osteosarcoma — a type of cancer that develops in the bone, cartilage, tendons, fat and muscle — and he began chemotherapy just 10 days later.
Joseph was given a 70 per cent survival rate after undergoing an operation on his knee and chemotherapy. He continued to live a normal life as a teenager for the next two and a half years.
But in January 2022, the family were dealt another devastating blow: Joseph was told the cancer had spread to his hip and his lungs.
He underwent another course of treatment — this time surgery and chemotherapy.
However, after a short period of stability, in 2024 the cancer was found in his lungs again — taking his survival rate down to 10 per cent and giving him just months to live.
The teenager passed away in the early hours of Friday morning, his father revealed on social media.
In a loving message Mr Tegerdine wrote on X: 'I awoke to Joseph’s shallow breathing at 02:50 this morning, it’s something we’ve been expecting for months. We sat at his bedside and comforted him until his last breath at 03:14.
Words cannot express the depth of grief that he has moved on, nor the tremendous joy that he is no longer suffering.'
He added: 'I look forward to the day that he and I will be able to run and jump and play together again.
'I appreciate all of the love and support we received from the X community. Your generosity made his life a little easier and more fun. Your love and concern made a huge difference.'
It was this tragic news of Joseph's terminal diagnosis that spurred his father to splash out on a 2020 Ford Mustange super car in March this year.
The entrepreneur, who sells home-composting devices, defended the purchase on X.
'For those wondering why I’d buy my 18yr old son a 330hp Mustang, well, he’s been given months to live and can’t work long enough to buy one himself,' Mr Tegerdine said.
'His comment on the way home, "Dad, I’m going to squeeze a few extra months of life just to be able to drive this.''
The story behind the Mustang went viral — with Tegerdine's tweet receiving over 13 million views.
Ford CEO Jim Farley also spotted his father's viral tweet and invited Joseph and his father to enjoy the purchase on the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina.
'Joseph was so excited. I had not seen him have that much energy for months,' Mr Tegerdine said.
'In the end, we got to ride with a professional driver and it was like, I mean, G-forces after G-forces. You could feel yourself airborne in the seat.
'You come through a turn and you feel all the pressure in the turn and as soon as they hit the throttle out of the turn, you're pinned to the seat.'
In a statement to the Detroit Free Press, Farley said it was an 'honor' for Ford to host the father and son at their track. 'I’m just pleased we were able to help Joe and Joseph enjoy a very special day,' he said.
Before their day at the track, the family also ventured to a 'bucket list' vacation — Osaka, Japan.
The teen previously said he lived 'day by day' which helped him get through his final months.
He told DailyMail.com back in April: 'I'm in Japan right now. I've got a car of my dreams, I'm surrounded by tons of people I absolutely adore and I'm going to driving school.
'Then you look at the future, and it all starts to break down. I don't really need to look at the future. Morbidly, I don't really have one. I can't be, like, "In a year" — If I get a year, I'll be extremely lucky.'
