Newswise — Lgan Nobriga, a 10-year-old-boy who is battling cancer, never expected he’d see his story played out on the giant monitor at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion. But recently, he stood on the basketball court before the tip-off of a game watching a video about the fight of his young life.
Logan, who comes from Oak Park, California, was honored Dec. 10 at the UCLA Bruins’ game against UC Riverside as the first "Kid Captain" selected by Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA and the UCLA Men’s Basketball team. The new program will recognize UCLA pediatric patients who face life-threatening illnesses with courage, strength and determination.
Logan, who has spent half of his young life in the battle against acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), is an inspiration to everyone, a hospital staff member said.
“Logan, who transforms his hospital room into a ‘sports zone,’ has been known to play a couple of wild games of basketball in the hospital, even when he was in the intensive care unit,” said Hilary Gan, a child-life specialist with the Chase Child Life program at Mattel. “Recently, he donated his birthday presents to the other children in the hospital.”
At the game, Logan high-fived Bruin players as they entered the court at the start of the game and then took a complimentary courtside seat with a friend he invited before having dinner at Pauley Pavilion.
“My college basketball team is definitely UCLA,” said Logan, a huge sports fan.
In 2009, he was diagnosed with ALL, a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow. In 2013, he relapsed and is currently receiving chemotherapy as an outpatient.
“Having ALL … you don’t get to do a lot of other things that kids do,” he said. So being treated as UCLA's No. 1 Bruin fan with all the perks, including getting the game ball, was a special moment for him.
“We are excited to partner with our colleagues at Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA to recognize these special young patients who inspire us all with their stories of hope and courage,” added Paul Engl, general manager of IMG College Los Angeles, the official sports marketing agency for UCLA Athletics.
To view Logan’s video, please visit www.uclahealth.org/mattel and click on UCLA Kid Captain.
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