A hockey game caps off Tampa Bay Fights Cancer Week, which raises awareness and money for young cancer patients.
By MARTY CLEAR
Published November 16, 2003
For one evening last year, 11-year-old Mitchell McHugh must have felt like the coolest kid in the world.
He had a luxury box at the St. Pete Times Forum and watched a Tampa Bay Lightning game with all his friends from school. He listened to them cheer as he rode around the ice on the Zamboni during intermission. Afterward, he met all the players.
"It made me feel really great," he said.
Mitchell got the star treatment because he, like many children in the area, suffers from cancer. Five years ago, doctors diagnosed him with lymphoma and T-cell leukemia.
Every year, kids with cancer, their families, friends and caregivers pack a Lightning game for Tampa Bay Fights Cancer Night. The fourth annual event takes place Saturday, when the Lightning plays the Buffalo Sabres.
The game marks the culmination of Tampa Bay Fights Cancer Week, which started Friday with a fishing derby with the children, sports celebrities and media personalities. The week also includes golf and fishing tournaments to benefit local charities.
Tampa lawyer Steve Yerrid, whose Yerrid Foundation sponsors the tournaments and pays for thousands of hockey tickets, said he hopes the weeklong event raises awareness of the disease and money to help fight pediatric cancer.
But above all, he hopes it bring some happiness to the children and families who must deal with cancer every day.
"These are children," Yerrid said. "They have done nothing to deserve this. We can give them hope; we can give them moments of happiness."
The McHugh family has been one of the luckier ones to take part in Tampa Bay Fights Cancer Week. Mitchell's cancer is now in remission.
But even those who aren't so fortunate say they're grateful for the experience.
"People don't realize how important it is to get away, to do something different besides going to the doctor," said Patty Zipter, whose daughter, Brittany, died of osteosarcoma earlier this year. "Even if you have just a few hours to take a break and replenish, it's a wonderful thing."
Fans who want to help can buy Tampa Bay Fights Cancer T-shirts at the game for $15. For information about the event, call Brad Lott with the Tampa Bay Lightning at 301-6602.
