A courageous teenager battling brain cancer gets the surprise of a lifetime from his beloved Florida Gators

It started with just the kind of news that is every parent’s worst nightmare.

Like so many other teenagers, Jonah Blick was enjoying what should have been a fun-filled day out with friends at the lake. What followed on that ill-fated hot summer’s day in August would change the 14-year-old’s life forever.

The seemingly perfectly healthy and always active youngster from Georgia suffered a massive seizure, with scans later revealing three brain tumors.

“We don’t have any health issues in our family. Literally was at a checkup eight weeks ago, all good. I don’t know why, we thought it would never be us,” Randi Blick, Jonah’s mother, told CNN Sports .

“I, genuinely in a million years, never would have thought it would happen to our son,” she added.

A week after that trip to the lake came news the Blick family had been dreading: Jonah was battling a rare and aggressive form of pediatric brain cancer.

It was a devastating setback for the family, but the courageous teen has already successfully undergone two major surgeries in Boston and Atlanta and is currently having radiation treatment.

“It’s incredible. He’s the bravest kid I’ve ever met. He’s handled it with poise and understanding but still, he charges forward at it and he’s ready to go,” said Adam Blick, Jonah’s father.

Jonah himself is remaining positive while keeping his spirits up thanks to the love, support and encouragement of his family, friends and all those doctors and nurses who care so much for him.

The teenager is not just courageous – he’s also very passionate about sports. He enjoys soccer and basketball and when it comes to college football, there’s only one team for Jonah – his beloved Florida Gators.

So just imagine his joy and elation when those nearest and dearest to him recently gathered to give him an epic send-off to the Sunshine State to see his favorite team in action at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

It was the surprise of a lifetime, and one made possible by the Atlanta-based nonprofit YES DAY.

“Our whole North Star, our whole guiding principle, is that we can’t always control what happens to someone. We can’t fix your diagnosis, but we can absolutely bring you joy into the middle of hard things,” says YES DAY founder Jodi Sonenshine.

Before leaving for Gainesville, Jonah told CNN Sports he had no idea his dream surprise was happening. Instead, he thought he was off to another medical appointment.

“It was crazy, it was very unexpected,” Jonah said.

“Watching all the games, (it’s) a very cool atmosphere. The atmosphere, it’s crazy,” he added while reflecting on what makes it so special to be a fan of the Florida Gators.

The trip itself was everything Jonah could have possibly dreamed of. Upon arrival at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, the star-struck teen was given a chance to tour the Gators’ locker room and meet the team including his favorite player, Florida quarterback Aaron Philo. Then came some VIP seats in a suite to witness the Gators’ victory against the Florida Atlantic University Owls.

“You know, he’s always the kindest kid in the class. The story about him was, you know, the first high school party he went to and a couple of (his) friends weren’t invited. He said, ‘I’m going to remind whoever that these people need to be invited because they’re not as outgoing or whatever.’ That’s his personality,” Adam Blick said.

“And for that to be repaid to him, in this type of kindness coming out, I mean, he’s kind and he’s brave. I can’t believe, it seems like only a few years ago he was afraid to be in the basement by himself and look at him now. It’s crazy,” he added.

“It’s been a lot, but we’re learning a lot, and he’s so strong, and, you know, not many people can say they birthed their own hero,” Randi Blick said.

“But we’re now part of a club we never wanted to be in.”

According to the American Cancer Society, just under 5,000 children and teenagers are diagnosed with a brain tumor each year in the United States. The Blick family say they’ve been strengthened and encouraged by an amazing show of support and love from a truly caring community, and they now want to share an important message when it comes to helping other parents who may be facing their own heartache over a child’s diagnosis.

“Jonah had his first seizure on August 8. From that, to go through two surgeries, to learning more about cancer than I ever wanted to know, we couldn’t do it without the people that were here today,” Adam said.

“Really find your community, find your support, find your people that are like this. The people at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta are amazing. The people at Boston’s Children Hospital are unbelievable. I mean, they’re the smartest people you’ll know, and the kindest people you know, and they’re all doing this out of the kindness of their heart,” he added.

Jonah is now continuing his radiation course before his medical team decides on his next stage of treatment.

For now, though, it’s one never-to-be-forgotten weekend in Florida that’s offered a moment of respite alongside his family and friends. Simply put, the people who mean the most to him in life.

“They’re very nice. They care a lot about me and they’re checking up on me all the time,” Jonah said.

“Just stay with your family, stay with your friends,” he said.

And as Sonenshine put it on the family’s online support page: “For now, we keep taking it one day at a time, finding the joy wherever we can and surrounding this family with as much love as humanly possible.”

If you want to help and support Jonah and his family, just head to the Ian’s Friends foundation , which funds research for pediatric brain tumors, and you can keep up to date with Jonah’s progress here .

事情的起因正是每一位父母最不愿听到的那种消息。

和许多其他青少年一样，乔纳·布里克原本应该和朋友们在湖边度过充满乐趣的一天。然而，在那个不幸的八月炎炎夏日里发生的一切，将永远改变这位14岁少年的人生。

这位来自佐治亚州、看似健康活泼的年轻人突发严重癫痫，扫描结果显示他脑部有三个肿瘤。

“我们家没有任何健康问题。就在八周前，我还去做了体检，一切都很好。我不知道为什么，我们一直觉得这种事永远不会发生在我们身上，”乔纳的母亲兰迪·布里克告诉CNN体育频道。

“我做梦都没想到这种事会发生在我们儿子身上，”她补充道。

去湖边游玩一周后，布里克一家一直担心的消息传来：乔纳患上了一种罕见且极具侵袭性的儿童脑癌。

这对这个家庭来说是一次毁灭性的打击，但这位勇敢的青少年已经在波士顿和亚特兰大成功接受了两次大手术，目前正在接受放射治疗。

“这太不可思议了。他是我见过的最勇敢的孩子。他处理这件事非常沉着冷静，也很有同理心，但他仍然勇往直前，做好了准备。”乔纳的父亲亚当·布里克说道。

乔纳本人也保持着积极乐观的态度，这要感谢他的家人、朋友以及所有关心他的医生和护士们的爱、支持和鼓励。

这位少年不仅勇敢，而且对体育运动充满热情。他喜欢足球和篮球，至于大学橄榄球，乔纳心中只有一支球队——他挚爱的佛罗里达鳄鱼队。

想象一下，当他最亲近的人最近聚集在一起，为他举行了一场盛大的欢送会，送他前往阳光之州佛罗里达大学观看他最喜欢的球队比赛时，他该有多么高兴和激动。

这是一生中最令人惊喜的时刻，而这一切都要归功于总部位于亚特兰大的非营利组织 YES DAY。

“我们始终秉持的理念，我们的指导原则，就是我们无法总是控制发生在别人身上的事情。我们无法改变你的病情，但我们绝对可以在你身处困境时为你带来快乐，”YES DAY创始人Jodi Sonenshine说道。

在前往盖恩斯维尔之前，乔纳告诉CNN体育频道，他完全不知道自己会迎来梦寐以求的惊喜。他当时以为自己是要去赴另一个医疗预约。

“这太疯狂了，完全出乎我的意料，”乔纳说。

“观看所有比赛，气氛非常酷。那种气氛，简直太疯狂了，”他在反思成为佛罗里达短吻鳄队球迷的特别之处时补充道。

这次旅行简直满足了乔纳的所有梦想。抵达盖恩斯维尔的本·希尔·格里芬体育场后，这位追星少年有机会参观了佛罗里达短吻鳄队的更衣室，并与球队成员见面，其中包括他最喜欢的球员——佛罗里达大学四分卫亚伦·菲洛。之后，他还被安排在贵宾包厢里，观看了短吻鳄队战胜佛罗里达大西洋大学猫头鹰队的比赛。

“你知道，他一直是班里最善良的孩子。关于他，有个故事是这样的：他第一次参加高中聚会，结果有几个朋友没被邀请。他说，‘我要提醒一下，这些人也应该被邀请，因为他们不太外向什么的。’这就是他的性格，”亚当·布里克说道。

“而他得到的回报，正是这种善意，我的意思是，他既善良又勇敢。我简直不敢相信，感觉就在几年前，他还害怕独自待在地下室，看看他现在的样子。太不可思议了，”他补充道。

“这期间发生了很多事，但我们学到了很多，他非常坚强，而且，你知道，没多少人能说自己创造了自己的英雄，”兰迪·布里克说道。

“但我们现在却成了我们从未想加入的俱乐部的一员。”

据美国癌​​症协会统计，美国每年约有5000名儿童和青少年被诊断出患有脑瘤。布里克一家表示，来自充满爱心的社区给予的巨大支持和关爱让他们倍感鼓舞，他们现在希望分享一个重要的信息，帮助其他可能正经历孩子确诊脑瘤之痛的父母。

“乔纳在8月8日第一次癫痫发作。从那以后，经历了两次手术，又了解了比我以往任何时候都多的癌症知识，如果没有今天在场的各位，我们根本无法做到这一切，”亚当说道。

“一定要找到你的社群，找到你的支持，找到和你一样的人。亚特兰大儿童医疗中心的人们太棒了。波士顿儿童医院的人们简直令人难以置信。我的意思是，他们是我认识的最聪明、最善良的人，他们做这一切都是出于一颗善良的心，”他补充道。

乔纳目前正在继续接受放射治疗，之后他的医疗团队将决定下一步的治疗方案。

不过，眼下，在佛罗里达度过的这个周末注定令人难忘，让他得以与家人和朋友共度一段短暂的休憩时光。简而言之，这些人是他生命中最重要的人。

“他们人很好。他们很关心我，一直都在关心我的情况，”乔纳说。

他说：“就待在家人身边，待在朋友身边吧。”

正如索南沙因在家庭在线支持页面上所说：“目前，我们只能一天一天地过，尽可能地寻找快乐，并尽我们所能地用爱包围这个家庭。”

如果你想帮助和支持乔纳和他的家人，请前往伊恩之友基金会，该基金会资助儿童脑瘤的研究，你可以在这里了解乔纳的最新进展。