High school freshman Liz Spurlock is a Chicago Blackhawks super fan.
In honor of the Hawks' latest playoff run, Spurlock decided to paint her sneakers with team colors and patterns as another way to support the team. She had no idea it would turn into a mini-business, Kustom Team Kicks, and an opportunity to help a great cause.
"I decided since I pretty much had everything else hockey, why not get a pair of shoes," Spurlock said.
Her mom posted a photo of her daughter's creations on Facebook, and suddenly the orders poured in.
"Everybody was asking, 'Where do you get them?'"
Spurlock now spends hours painting, and her shoes soon will have a website.
Some of the money from every pair of shoes goes to a foundation that aims to find treatments and ultimately a cure for the brain cancer that took his life.
It's all in the name of Ross MacNeill, a fifth grader who dreamed he might become a Blackhawk himself someday.
MacNeill started skating as a 4-year-old and played hockey until two months before he passed away.
"Every day 10 children are diagnosed with a brain tumor," Kim MacNeill said. "What's even more horrible, nearly 50 percent of those children, that diagnosis is fatal, including our son."
Spurlock isn't the only one in the battle against this cancer. MacNeill's mom says the Blackhawks supported him until the end.
"They've been great friends," she said. "The organization, Coach Quenneville continue to be."
"There's a heart in hockey like no other sport."
