How One Boy's Wish to Attend the World Series Came True
Noah, 6, suffers from a cancerous tumor in his spine.
— -- A Kansas man has been raising money to send his 6-year-old neighbor, a huge Royals fan who suffers from a cancerous tumor in his spine, to see his favorite team play at the World Series -- and all the hard work and effort has worked.
In just one day, Ryan Zimmerman, of Olathe, raised more than $8,000 and counting through online crowdfunding -- plenty of cash to send young Noah Wilson and his family to the game.
At the same time, Zimmerman said this afternoon that StubHub has decided to donate six tickets so that the entire family can go to a game. The money raised, Zimmerman said, will go towards Noah's hospital bills.
The offers didn't end there.
Moments after the StubHub offer was made, former New York Yankees manager Joe Torre, who now works for Major League Baseball, invited Noah to the World Series.
Torre tweeted, "On behalf of @MLB we would like #NoahWilson to be our guest @ the 2014 #WorldSeries. Save the money for school! @RyanZOnline DM @DanScavino"
Noah will be at the hospital when the World Series starts Tuesday, so Zimmerman had been trying to get tickets for Wednesday's game.
"When you look online, the cheapest tickets are $750, and that's standing room only," Zimmerman said before StubHub made its generous offer.
Noah is about halfway through cancer treatment at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, with 14 more weeks of chemotherapy left.
"So far he's been responding well to it," Wilson said. "The tumor hasn't spread. It's gotten smaller so we're moving forward with high hopes."
Noah made headlines last month when he developed a program for the hospital to replace the boring brown bandages with bright colors and superhero patterns.
"It's a lot of fun. We just got a letter in the mail from a family that received some of the Band-Aids," Wilson said. "And he just smiles real big. It melts our hearts."
Zimmerman, who coaches soccer for one of Noah's sisters, said he's impressed by the boy's selflessness even while battling cancer.
"That's just another part of what makes this kid so special -- that he's dealing with things that I couldn't even fathom and he's still thinking about other kids in the hospital with him," Zimmerman said.
Noah couldn't be happier, his dad told ABC News.
"We're overwhelmed with appreciation," Scott Wilson said today from the hospital, where Noah was getting his last radiation treatment. "I keep telling people I don't have enough words to say thank you."