Ailing five-year-old hockey fan meets Penguins captain Crosby
Sidney Crosby took the opportunity of a West Coast NHL road trip to do something special for a five-year-old Victoria boy.
Memphis Savage was diagnosed with a brain tumour at 15 months, and now faces new health concerns, said his father, Cole, who reached out to Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins and the Vancouver Canucks. The two teams played Saturday night and the Canucks provided free tickets to the game for father and son, along with Cole’s uncle and grandfather.
Both teams also gave Memphis plenty of souvenirs.
Cole had a bigger request from the Penguins, however — a meeting with Crosby for his son.
“I had been emailing back and forth with Pittsburgh for about two months,” he said. “Finally they got all the scheduling together and got it all set up.
“Unbelievable for my son and me.”
Cole said he is a big Crosby fan. “Memphis is five years old, so he follows suit.”
The big meeting came prior to the game at the Penguins’ hotel. “Sidney comes down and he says: ‘Let’s go somewhere more private’ and they had a whole suite for just Memphis and me.”
The session lasted about 45 minutes. The formal introduction to Memphis was a great moment, Cole said.
“When Sidney came in the room, he came right over to my son,” he said. “Memphis just put his hand out. He said: ‘My name’s Memphis. Nice to meet you, sir’ and that just blew Sidney away.”
The two got along very well, he said.
“Sidney just loved my son.”
At one point, Sidney asked Memphis if he could spell his own name so he could write him an autograph.
“He was so patient because Memphis just learned how. He waited for every letter, then he gave him a huge hug.”
Crosby deserves a lot of praise for what he did, Cole said. “He’s a true champion.”
Cole said he usually isn’t much of a photographer, but he rose to the occasion.
“When Sidney knelt down [for] a picture with my son, it’s the best photo I’ve ever taken in my life.”
Cole said one reason the meeting meant a lot is that while Memphis can run and play, he is unable to take part in contact sports due to his condition.
“With all the other kids getting that camaraderie, he’ll be able to have his own story to tell.”