Please Grant My Make-A-Wish To Fight Zdeno Chara At Center Ice
Dear Make-A-Wish Foundation,
My name is Colton Brumlee. I am twelve years old, and I unfortunately have Childhood Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. But with your help, you can make my battle with this dark disease a little brighter by granting my wish of fighting Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara at center ice.
I am a huge Bruins fan, and I go to games all the time with my dad. His friend Kurt from work is a season ticket holder, so he sometimes gets us tickets. I love watching big hits, which is why my favorite player on the Bruins is Chara.
He’s my hockey hero, and ever since I went to my first game six years ago, it has been my dream to not only punch him, but to be repeatedly struck in the face by the six-foot-nine, 250-pound Slovak captain.
There’s just something about the way his previously broken nose healed that makes me want to square up and punch it back towards the middle of his face.
Sometimes, when I’m at home, if it’s not too bright out, I’ll wheel my oxygen tank out to the backyard, set up a small hockey rink, and lose myself shadowboxing. I close my eyes, and I hear The Garden crowd. I feel the cool ice, and then I see Chara; we’re circling each other, snarling and spitting.
It would mean the world to me to step on a real hockey rink — the same rink that Bobby Orr skated on before I was born — and with some force, jab the back of Chara’s knee with the butt-end of my hockey stick, look him in the eye and taunt him by saying, “I WILL END YOU, ZDENO!”
When I get Chara riled enough to punch me, and we start going blow for blow, I wish for there not to be any referees to break us apart. My dream isn’t to be in a hockey fight; it’s to be in a street fight in a hockey rink.
Just to be clear, my only wish is to get into an on-ice scrap with Chara. I have no interest in sitting in Lord Stanley’s Cup while he hoists me above his head, and I don’t want to shoot practice shots before a game with the entire team. If you offer to have me sit in a box with the Bruins’ mascot, Blades — even if it’s during the playoffs — I’m sorry, I will refuse.
I’ll know my wish has come true when either Chara or I are knocked out cold on the ice, bleeding from the lips and missing a couple of incisors.
As you consider my wish, know that Hodgkins taught me so much about myself, including just how strong I can be. Even though I’m only twelve and weigh 84 pounds, I learned I can handle anything that comes my way, even if it’s Chara’s seven-foot wingspan coming at me with closed fists.
I’m also really fast.
When I was diagnosed four years ago, I was told I only had a year to live, and my dreams of going toe to toe in hand to hand combat with the enormous Slav seemed to be melting away. But here I am. Ready to take the ice. I beat the disease then, and now I’m ready to beat the snot out of my hero.
Finally, granting my wish of repeatedly socking Chara in the stomach won’t just change my life, it will change many lives. With your help, we can inspire boys and girls living with terminal illnesses to rise up and make their dreams of charging the mound with Bryce Harper, or getting into a 15–20 car pile-up with Kevin Harvick at Talladega Super Speedway, come true.
Let’s do this!
Sincerely,
Colton Brumlee
P.S. Please know let Chara know that due to the nature of my condition I cannot be disconnected from my oxygen tank (won’t use to bludgeon!), but tell him he should not let that get in the way of trying his hardest to land a devastating haymaker on me.
