A 6-year-old and his parents got VIP treatment to meet the Cubs for helping sick kids.
Starlight Children’s Foundation told Jack Backe they chose the hospital gown he designed for sick kids—including for his baby sister Everly.
“Thirty thousand kids across the nation are going to get gowns that have Jack’s hearts all over it,”said Jack’s mother Lauren Backe. “So we’re thrilled.”
Jack said his experience was “incredible,” after showing up at Wrigley Field and being handed eight major league baseballs, all signed by the players; not to mention having his name announced as he walked out to the home plate with Kyle Schwarber and his father to drop off the line-up card.
“We set the bar pretty high,” said Jack’s father, Matt Backe. “This is his first game.”
“He might be a little shy now but boy the energy that came out of Jack when he won was amazing,” said Starlight Children’s Foundation CEO Chris Helfrich.
His parents say Jack is a protective big brother of his sister who was born with a heart defect.
Local
“He’s just a very sweet kind, kid,” said Mr. Backe.
Everly has a long road ahead but Jack is trying to make it a little more comfortable for her and other kids who have to wear hospital gowns.
“It makes us feel like we are giving back to all the people who have given to us,” said Mrs. Backe.
Jack’s sister Everly needs to undergo a third open heart surgery this summer.
Once she’s healthy enough, the entire family said they want to come back someday—this time, for her first Cubs game.
