Craig Willinger Fund honors San Diego teen fighting leukemia with a dream trip to Leicester City
BALTIMORE, MD – The Craig Willinger Fund (CWFund) proudly announces the selection of 13-year-old Travis Hackett of San Diego, California as its 13th honoree. Travis and his father will travel to see Leicester City Football Club (LCFC) face Sunderland at King Power Stadium in Leicester, England on April 4, 2017. LCFC is the current English Premier League champion and a UEFA Champions League quarter-finalist.
Travis, a soccer player—and die-hard LCFC Foxes fan—was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia in 2014. Travis’s father, Tim, shared that his son used the family’s newfound love for the recently-promoted Leicester City Football Club as his inspiration to fight for survival. Although, LCFC shocked the English Premier League by beating Manchester United 5-3 in a record-setting comeback, they headed into a streak of 13 games without a win.
Travis’s diagnosis came in the early part of that winless streak and he equated their plight with his. By the end of that Premier League season, Travis was cancer-free and the LCFC Foxes dodged elimination by winning seven of their final nine matches. Today, Travis is still considered a cancer patient in maintenance, but like his amazing Foxes who shocked the soccer world by placing first in the English Premier League, Travis is back on top of his game.
“This is a special trip of lucky 13s for us.” shared CWFund Vice Chair Darren Rudham. “Travis is 13 years old. He is our 13th honoree, and 13 was the squad number of our founder, and namesake, Craig Willinger. We are incredibly blessed by both our honorees and the clubs they go to watch. Soccer truly is the ‘Beautiful Game’.”
The Craig Willinger Fund seeks to improve the lives of children and young adults stricken with cancer and other critical illnesses by providing once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to experience soccer—both domestically and abroad. Since 2010, honorees have traveled to South Africa, Barcelona, Milan, London, Madrid, New York City, Manchester, and Brazil, including world-class events like the FIFA Men’s World Cup and the UEFA Champions League Final. Visit www.cwfund.org for more information.
Follow Travis on his dream trip at www.facebook.com/cwfund and on Twitter @theCWFund using #cwftravis.
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FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES CONTACT:
Emily Agueda
443.739.6875
emily@cwfund.org