"I don’t think he understands how much I appreciated that and how much that really motivated me," said Lucas Gidelski through tears.
He's a 14-year-old lifelong Lions fan. Three weeks ago, Lucas was diagnosed with t-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma.
"I saw Lucas on the sideline," said Lons wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown."His dad asked me to take a picture with him and I said of course."
During pregame before the Bears, the Lions greeted their young fan, not knowing how much that encounter really met with them. NFL Films caught the touching moment. His journey with cancer will be a battle. The same can be said about even his journey down to the sideline at Soldier Field that day.
"About 20 steps in, he collapsed. His legs gave out 100%," recalled David Gidelski, Lucas's father. Lucas collapsed twice on the way down to meet the Lions. His dad was about to go get the car to leave. "A 14-year old boy collapses because his legs physically couldn’t get there, to say dad, please, please can we get there."
So a wheelchair was found for Lucas and it was the first time in his fight with cancer that he used a wheelchair.
"As I signed his jersey, he started breaking down," St. Brown said. "I’ve signed a lot of autographs for people and nobody has ever broken down in front of me so that touched my heart and it was a moment I’ll never forget."
"It made me feel like people had my back and people really did care about me," said Lucas.
"It is crazy to me that someone looks up to me that much," said St. Brown. "I feel like a regular person, i put my pants on one leg at a time just like he does. For someone to look up to me that much, it’s so inspiring, so humbling."
St. Brown took it upon himself to find Lucas’s dad on social media and will be sending Lucas more signed gear.
"If my ankle is hurting in a game, what he’s going through is something greater than anything I’ve ever experienced," said St. Brown. "And you would never know by looking at him. For me it meant so much just to make him happy."
