Sick kids are VIPs at football games

Blake Rockwell grew up playing sports with other children in his neighborhood. But a congenital heart defect had prevented one of his older brothers, Chuckie, from doing the same.

“He wasn’t even allowed to run,” Rockwell said. “So, the kids, they made him the referee for every game. … To be a part of it, in that way, was extremely important to him.”

Chuckie passed away when he was 10 years old, several months before Blake was born. But Blake’s life was deeply shaped by the brother he never met. In the early 1990s, Rockwell became a volunteer at the children’s hospital where his brother had been treated. For four years, he visited young patients one evening a week.

“They were probably bigger sports fans than a lot of kids I knew who were healthy,” he said. “But very few of them had ever been to a game, and that seemed absolutely crazy to me. I always wanted to take them to the games.”

Since 2002, Rockwell has done just that — and more. His nonprofit, Special Spectators, has given more than 10,000 seriously ill children and family members all-access, VIP experiences at college sporting events around the country.

Football season is Rockwell’s busiest time of year. He works with children’s hospitals to find families, then partners with universities to roll out the red carpet for them. Game day usually starts off with a behind-the-scenes tour, where kids meet coaches and players and try on gear in the locker room. After that, families enjoy a tailgate that’s often attended by cheerleaders, the mascot or the marching band.

Source: CNN

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