Going to the Super Bowl
St. Rita student battling cancer gets chance to see wish come true
(Joseph P. Meier/Daily Southtown)
The topic seemed too weighty, too in-your-face, too much for a teenager with cancer to handle.
Theology teacher Laura Kennedy tried to excuse St. Rita High School junior Andy Smialek from the assignment: Watch a video about Ryan White, an 18-year-old hemophiliac from Indiana who died from AIDS, then write about what you would do before your own death.
The 16-year-old refused to skip the assignment.
In the two years since the honors student was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma, he had never asked for special treatment.
Yes, his relentless cancer seems impervious to radiation. It is back for a fourth time, now attacking his abdomen.
But Andy keeps fighting, wanting only to be a regular kid.
So he watched the video and then wrote, "If I was in Ryan White's position, one thing that I'd like to see is the Bears win the Super Bowl."
Kennedy gave him a perfect score. "You will see them win!" she scribbled at the bottom of the page. "Have faith."
"I cried when I read it because I knew his dream might never come true," Kennedy said, her eyes again filling with tears. "It hit me like a ton of bricks."
The moment the Bears clinched the NFC Championship, Kennedy and St. Rita's development director, Mike Zunica, started working the phones to fulfill Andy's wish.
Thanks to a collection of charitable folks -- including Mayor Richard Daley and Bears part-owner Patrick Ryan -- Andy and his mother are going to the Super Bowl.
"I didn't expect this at all," Andy said. "It was just a surprise. I really can't believe it."
Andy and his mom, Therese, are overwhelmed by the attention and outpouring of support.
Earlier this month, friends of the family sent Andy, Therese, Andy's three sisters, and Andy's best friend, Jamie Lick (son of former Bears offensive tackle Dennis Lick), to Florida for a week.
"While Andrew was doing good, we wanted the family to get away and not think about everything going on in their life," said friend Sandi Gliva.
When they returned, Andy started a fourth round of radiation. He's also received chemotherapy and two stem-cell transplants, his mom said.
The generosity didn't stop with the vacation.
Last Saturday, about 1,600 people attended a benefit at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park to help pay his medical bills.
"I'm not over Saturday yet and then they pop this (Super Bowl trip) on us," Therese Smialek said. "This is a dream come true for Andrew. For him to be doing this, it's just out of this world for him. It means so much."
Zunica said he never doubted they would make the trip happen.
"No matter what it took, I knew we could get this done," he said.
Zunica and administrative assistant Mary Barnes lobbied St. Rita alumni and friends for donations. Money quickly rolled in for plane tickets, transportation, lodging and more than $2,000 in spending cash.
Tickets to the Super Bowl were harder to come by until someone contacted Mayor Daley, who reached out to Patrick Ryan.
Ryan -- executive chairman of Aon Corp., Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid Committee chairman and a minority owner of the Bears -- gladly donated two tickets.
"I have a feeling Andrew is going to bring good luck to the Bears," Ryan said in a news release.
It wouldn't be the first time Andy galvanized a team to achieve greatness.
In November, Andy was credited with inspiring the St. Rita Mustangs' drive to the 2006 Class 7A state football championship.
The players and coaches gushed about how Andy, the team manager who longed to take the field, was tackling his personal battle with tenacity, confidence and grace.
"He's a hero, bigger than any of the football starters on the state championship team or anything we're doing for him," Zunica said. "It all pales in comparison to how he's handling his illness."
Courtney Greve may be reached at
cgreve@dailysouthtown.com
or (708) 633-5983.