Proceeds to benefit accelerate brain cancer cure

 

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Wizards Win Season Final Versus The Pacers 98-97

What a special night last night. We received a call this week from former Redskin superstar, Lavar Arrington's producer Matt Cahill that they were interested in doing a feature on Justin's Quest on Lavar's TV show with DC 50. They had an idea that Justin would shoot hoops at the Verizon Center during the Wizards last game during a TV timeout. That alone was a huge gesture to help spread the word. But wait, it gets better, Brian Sereno, Director of Public Relations for the Wizards turned this night into a huge event for our family. Brian, sent a press release from the Wizards about Justin's Quest to all the media Thursday. Well that got the ball rolling. I received a phone call at 4:20 pm Thursday from Lindsay Czarniak, sports anchor for NBC 4, and she wanted to interview Justin and I live from the Verizon Center court at 5:45pm. We raced down to the Verizon Center and were greeted by Brian. Brian himself is a brain tumor survivor of 18 months and a true inspiration. Brian treated our family like VIP's, we went to the locker room before the game and met the Wizards' players and had a basketball signed by them. Justin and his brothers acted as ball boys getting rebounds during the warm up. We had floor seats on center court, the best seats in the house. The night was incredible as Justin and the family were interviewed by other TV stations and that helped us spread the word. Justin was so cool and collected as he described his ordeal to the public. The big event came after the 2nd TV timeout in the 2nd quarter. Justin was going to to shoot hoops in front of the crowd and Lavar Arrington was going to rebound for him. The time came and a very energetic female MC came over to Justin during the timeout and interviewed Justin and the whole crowd could hear it on the PA system. What really moved me was after she asked Justin what is Justin's Quest she then asked him "why are you doing Justin's Quest" and he said with confidence that I HAVE A BRAIN TUMOR to the thousands in attendance. At that moment I was blown away by this kid who will make such a difference in raising awareness and find a cure for brain tumors. You could see the determination on his face and at the same time he was having fun. He made 2 out of 3 shots and the crowd went nuts. At the end of the game after the Wizards won a nail bitter, Andre Blatche, the Wizard's star player came over to Justin and gave him his head band and warmup shirt. Justin's eye lit up and he held those mementos closely and told Audrey that she cannot wash them even though they were very sweaty. A special thanks goes to the whole Wizards organization for allowing Justin to do this night and to Eric Meyrowitz of DC 50. Overall Justin and his brothers made 20 shots. What a night to remember. It is hard to believe that so many people care about Justin's Quest.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm from Phoenix and in Washington for work and was at that Wizards game! Just donated to the cause! Good luck and God Bless to Justin and your family!!

April 21, 2010 at 6:45 PM  

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