That's a true fan! by Kevin Maguire
Billy McMiltee is an 11 year old from Attleboro, Mass. He is dying of a rare form of leukemia. His doctors say he has less than 6 months to live. He has to stay in Boston Children’s Hospital and can’t go home to watch his favorite team, the Boston Red Sox, a team, it seems, he loves more than life itself.
The other day, young Billy was watching TV with his mom and dad and on SportsCenter there was a segment of another dying boy, from New York, who got to take batting practice with the Yankees, get a ball signed by Alex Rodriguez, and meet Joe Torre. His parents, seeing young Billy’s eyes positively light up during the segment, almost overwhelmed with joy, knew what they had to do.
The next morning, a call was placed by Billy’s mother to the Make-a-Wish foundation, which in turn contacted the Boston Red Sox, who said they would be happy to arrange Billy’s lifetime wish. The next day, Billy’s mom and dad told him that the Boston Red Sox would be calling tomorrow to ask him what he would like as one last wish. They were both curious as to what Billy might want. His dad remembered the way his son’s eyes looked during the Yankees segment on SportsCenter, and was glowing: “Son, who do you want to meet? David Ortiz? Maybe get your glove signed by Curt Schilling, or get a chance to have a lesson on pitching from Jon Papelbon?!?!” His son all of a sudden looked sad. His father asked, “What’s wrong, son?” “I don’t want any of those things, dad—that’s not what would make me happy.” His father was puzzled: his son was so happy the other day watching another kid have the same dream come true. So he asked his son what he wanted, and his son announced, “I’d really like to stick an ice pick in A-Rod’s balls”.
