Young Sharks fan skates with his idols
Santa Rosa teen plays a year after having open-heart surgery
SAN JOSE >> Hayden Bradley was inside the Sharks’ dressing room Friday afternoon — clutching the teal jersey that had the number “1” and “BRADLEY” stitched on the back — when he was asked if he would like to have it washed.
“I don’t think so,” Bradley said, hesitant to let the sweater out of his grasp.
Bradley has played hockey since he was 4 years old and has been a Sharks fan for as long as he can remember. Now 15, and less than a year after he had open heart surgery and fires devastated his neighborhood in Santa Rosa, he’s getting to enjoy an unforgettable weekend.
Arranged with the help of Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area
and the Sharks Foundation, Bradley signed an honorary three-day contract with the Sharks on Friday after he arrived at the team’s practice facility. After meeting members of the team, he joined a handful of players for a quick practice.
Saturday, Bradley will skate out of the famous Sharks head at SAP Center before San Jose’s game against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. He and his family will then travel with the team on their charter jet to Southern California, where they will watch Sunday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks.
“He’s living his dream. He’s alive and he’s healthy and he’s skating,” said Bradley’s mother, Melissa Holmes, as she watched him go through drills with the Sharks players. “I would just be happy if he just made it through the surgery, but to have him skating is just above and beyond.
“To have him here with the Sharks, his idols, it means so much.”
Bradley was born with a heart defect called pulmonary atresia, where the pulmonary valve is completely blocked and blood does not flow to the lungs to collect oxygen.
“I thought after I got through my surgery, and my mom also told me, that I can get through almost anything because of this,” Bradley said. “After that, I would say to myself that I’ve already done so much in my life — with my surgery and my procedures — that nothing’s really a big deal.”
After surgery, Bradley’s uncle, Clayton Holmes, thought his nephew might be a perfect candidate for Make-A-Wish. Clayton Holmes knew Sam Tageson, who also suffered from a serious heart condition and experienced his own day with the Sharks in 2014, and thought Bradley could experience something similar.
“He’s just a fighter,” Clayton Holmes said of Bradley. “He deserves it. He’s such a good kid, a good hockey player, a great student and an even better human being.”
Though it all, Bradley continued to play hockey. He was on skates shortly after he could walk and has been on a team every year since he was 4. Melissa Holmes said playing sports has helped her son’s heart condition.
“The fact that he was able to do this with this heart defect and never let it stop him is the miracle,” Melissa Holmes said. “Just that he’s back playing, he’s playing games and he had open heart surgery six months ago.”
Bradley was also joined by other family members Friday, including his younger brothers Kellen, 13, and Bryce, 11. Three months ago, much of their neighborhood in Santa Rosa was destroyed by wildfires. A fence at their home was burned, and some windows were damaged, but their house was spared.
The family didn’t have much time to evacuate, and thought they would lose their home amid the devastation.
“After I went back, and looked at what I had, it made really me think more about how grateful I was for my house not to burn,” Bradley said.
After the Sharks trip, Bradley will return to Cardinal Newman High School, which sustained significant damage in the fire and will reopen next week.
“We know he’s been through a lot,” Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. “Just to see the excitement on his face, it’s good have him around.”
As Bradley left the Sharks’ dressing room Friday, he eventually figured it would be good for the jersey he was holding to go through the wash. After all, he would get it back. His dream weekend was just starting.
“You can’t pay to do something like this,” Bradley said. “You could go on a trip to Hawaii or Europe. I thought this would be really special, especially, because I’ve been playing hockey for my whole life.”