Gritty makes birthday wish come true for superfan battling cancer

Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty visits Jack Callahan, a 4-year-old who is battling cancer, in the hospital for his birthday. (1:00)

On the night before he was scheduled to meet his new best friend, Jack Callahan built him a bed.

Sitting on the twin mattress within his family’s suite on the second floor of the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House, Jack laid a pillow on the bedside table.

On top of the pillowcase dotted with orange and black bats, Jack placed the stuffed animal replica of his buddy, tucking him in with a t-shirt blanket. Jack — his head bald from months of chemotherapy, his skin pale after a spring and summer spent inside hospital rooms — rested his hand on his chin and smiled at the stuffed animal, an imaginary conversation playing out in his head.

Jack hadn’t been allowed to see his friends or be around any other children, save for a handful of fellow pediatric cancer patients, in five months. His family had uprooted from their home in Charlottesville, Va., to Philadelphia for his treatment. So when he learned that he would get to meet his new friend at his birthday party, Jack wanted his likeness next to him.
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