Leafs make dream of Beardy’s boy come true
- Fraser Needham | April 06, 2015
The Toronto Maple Leafs won’t be in the NHL playoffs this year but that matters little to an 11-year-old boy from the Beardy’s and Okemasis First Nation who saw a dream come true last month.
Garret Gamble Jr. is a diehard Maple Leafs fan and he also suffers from Morquio Syndrome – a rare disorder that causes serious health problems including heart disease, skeletal abnormalities, vision, hearing loss and early death.
He has long dreamed of seeing a Leafs game live but he got much more than that when Toronto took on the Ottawa Senators at home on March 28.
Thanks to the Children’s Wish Foundation and the NHL organization, Garret and his family were flown to Toronto where he signed a one-day contract with the Leafs.
This contract included access to the Toronto dressing room and a chance to meet all the Leaf players, an introduction by former team captain and Saskatchewan native Wendel Clark at game time and the opportunity to perform the ceremonial puck drop.
Garrett was also given a special team jersey with the name G-Man and the number 42 on the back.
Making the night even more special, the Leafs defeated the Senators 4-3 in overtime and Garrett’s favourite player Tyler Bozak, who also wears number 42, scored his first career hat trick.
Bozak also hails from Saskatchewan.
For his efforts, Garrett was awarded the first star of the game.
Garrett’s mom Carrie Sutherland says the weekend ended up being much more than they originally anticipated.
“They (the Leafs) totally went over and beyond what we totally expected,” she says. “I really thought we were just going to go to the game and meet the players and we’re getting this whole itinerary of what they’re going to do for him and I was, ‘oh my goodness.’”
Sutherland says Garrett has been a Leafs fan for as long as he has been able to watch hockey on television and the plan has been in the works for a few years to organize with the Children’s Wish Foundation a trip to Toronto to see a hockey game.
The phone call that the trip was going to happen came in mid-March giving the family only a week to prepare.
Added to this, they were not allowed to tell Garrett his wish had come true until two days before the big game.
“It was hard because we had to keep it a secret from Garrett for the whole week so he wouldn’t know because they wanted his genuine reaction to hearing the news,” Sutherland says. “He found out March 26, we told him in front of his whole school.”
For his part, Garrett says he enjoyed the whole weekend but the high point was of course meeting his favourite Leaf player Tyler Bozak.
And his mom adds the G-Man has been a real hit at school ever since he returned.
“He’s pretty popular, he’s had some sessions where he’s actually signed autographs,” she says.
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