Blue Jackets to honor youth cancer heroes this week

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The Columbus Blue Jackets are hosting a special Hockey Fights Cancer night during their Thursday game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.  

It’s a night dedicated to honoring people who have experienced or are currently battling cancer.

The Blue Jackets have a few Pediatric Cancer Heroes who will be celebrated on Thursday and one of them is six-year-old Graham Smith, who was diagnosed with leukemia more than two years ago and currently in remission.  

Smith is officially done with treatment and gets to ring the bell at Nationwide Children's Hospital on Friday, but the Jackets also asked Smith if he wanted to ring the bell Thursday night in front of the crowd to celebrate this huge milestone.  

“To do that in front of I don’t even know how many people can sit in here, thousands and thousands of people, is an opportunity I was not expecting. He’s just the most well-deserving person,” Graham’s mother Nicole Smith said.  

It’s a week of celebrations for the Smith family.   

“It feels very surreal,” Nicole Smith said. “He deserves it. He deserves all the attention. This week is just like all that, it’s celebrating him.” 

Besides being introduced on the ice before the game, this year’s Pediatric Cancer Heroes will get to watch the match from a suite. They also got to meet a number of Blue Jackets players during a photoshoot a few weeks ago, with Smith really connected with goalie Daniil Tarasov.  

“I just started to like him and he said he could have a playdate with me someday,” Graham Smith said.  

Now that he is done with treatment, Smith is allowed to start playing contact sports and hockey is obviously at the top of his list.  

“I scheduled a time with the hockey players so they can teach me how to play hockey and skate,” Graham Smith said.  

He said he’s a little nervous to be in front of a big crowd on Thursday night, but he is ready to show the whole arena that he beat cancer.  

“I’m most excited for ringing my bell,” Graham Smith said. “Because I’m done with cancer.”  

The Hockey Fights Cancer game is Thursday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. at Nationwide Arena. People going to the game are encouraged to wear lavender, the official color of Hockey Fights Cancer.