[4] To lift the spirits of the children in the cancer facility, Bill Koster of the "Variety Club of New England" in partnership with Farber contacted popular radio host Ralph Edwards and invited him to broadcast his program Truth or Consequences live nationwide from the children's ward to raise money for the Cancer Research Fund.

One boy in particular who had striking, movie-star features, "The doctors one day pulled the curtain around him," Gustafson recalled, "and, jeez, you wouldn’t know what had happened.

When the program aired, Edwards gave Gustafson the pseudonym "Jimmy", saying: "We’re not going to give you his last name because he's just like thousands of other young fellas and girls in private homes and hospitals across the country.

Team members Warren Spahn, Eddie Stanky, and Phil Masi entered Gustafson's room, presenting him with gifts.

[1][8] The radio program was so effective that members of the local public filled the lobby of the hospital to personally hand in their donations so that "Jimmy" could watch the Braves on TV.

[5][7] Baseball's ongoing relationship with the Jimmy Fund originated into a partnership that continues to this day with the Boston Red Sox after the Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953.

The Red Sox adopted the Jimmy Fund; and player Ted Williams became its strongest supporter, due to the fact that his own brother had died from leukemia at age 39.

[7] After being discharged in 1948, Gustafson visited the Children's Hospital for follow-up treatments; getting rides from his Uncle in his pick-up truck from Maine to Boston.

[2] Gustafson married his high school sweetheart in 1957, moved to Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts,[1] where he founded a long-distance trucking business.

[4][1][7] It wasn't until 1997, when his sister Phyllis Clauson sent a letter along with her annual Jimmy Fund donation stating that he was alive and living in Maine that Gustafson re-entered the national spotlight.