I wish to meet the Seattle Seahawks
Keegan
18
cancer
Seahawks Wishes Win Big
As screaming fans cheered from the stands at Lumen Field on a crisp Saturday evening in August, four wish families stood on the sidelines, watching as the Seattle Seahawks warmed up before their preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys. With wide smiles, they took in the sights under the lights. The game was the culmination of a week-long dream. For Keegan, Vyom, Jakob and Da’Shawn, the Seahawks are more than a football team – they are hope and joy and a wish come true.
These four teens join dozens of others who can now say that their wish to meet the Seahawks has come true. From meeting the players and getting autographs to signing a contract with the team, the wish experience was a touchdown.
For 18-year-old Keegan, his wish to meet the Seahawks was a celebration. It was achieving a dream. After he was diagnosed with cancer, he stopped playing football, but his love for the sport continued.
Keegan first found out he qualified for a wish while he was in the hospital undergoing cancer treatment. His social worker at Seattle Children’s told him his wish would be something he could look forward to – and it was. He said having a wish to think about while in the hospital made the grueling treatment easier. He said the wish was a reward for all his hard work fighting and not giving up hope.
“In a way, it was living a dream that could have been,” he said.
“A wish is giving someone a chance to do something they thought they would never get to do.”
Keegan
Wish Kid
Keegan grew up watching the Seahawks. Throughout the wish, he and his family had smiles on their faces. They were speechless at the practice facility when Seahawk players DK Metcalf and Bobby Wagner came over to the sidelines to sign autographs and take pictures with them. After practice, they headed to Lumen Field for a stadium tour and were surprised with a press conference where each wish kid got to sign a one-week contract with the team. It was an unbelievable experience they will remember for the rest of their lives.
Keegan won’t play football again, but he’ll be a Seahawk for life.
Playing football was always a big part of Da' Shawn's life as well. His family enjoyed cheering him on from the stands. Then tragedy struck during a championship game. He went into a tackle and in a second, he went numb. He suffered a spinal cord injury.
Da’Shawn wants to be a football coach one day. He said he looks up to Pete Caroll, and when he got the chance to meet him, the experience didn’t disappoint. His wish will continue to fuel his dream, and one day we hope to see him coaching the Seahawks.
For 17-year-old Vyom, football was something he and his father bonded over. He was in and out of the hospital as a child, often tired because of chronic kidney disease.
During football season, Vyom would eagerly look forward to Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays. Those were the days he could watch his beloved team play.
“Football would take my mind off things in the hospital,” he said.
Football was a welcome distraction from his medical challenges. His family knew he would one day need a kidney transplant, and in 2020, the time came. He was placed on the waiting list.
On March 13, 2021, his family got a life-changing phone call. They had a match. On March 15, Vyom underwent a kidney transplant.
Vyom says his wish came at the perfect time. “It’s a celebration of my journey,” he said. “I can finally celebrate being healthy. It’s a lifelong dream! I’m grateful to have the opportunity to meet the team.”
When 13-year-old Jakob found out his wish would come true, he was ecstatic. He became a Seahawks fan because of his foster brother. Together, they’d watch games and cheer on their team. Jakob has a rare disorder, MPS1 Hurlers, affecting one in one hundred thousand births. “For us, a wish is a memory for a lifetime for Jakob,” said Cyndy, his grandmother. “To be with his foster care brother and to be with the team he loves, that will be a fantastic memory for him. Jakob has an extremely good memory.
He looks at a picture over and over and remembers the day. He remembers all the details. This wish will be something he will hold close to his heart forever.”
During practice at the Seahawks practice facility, Jakob brought a gift for Seahawks player DK Metcalf, a drawing Jacob had done of DK as a comic book hero. It was in those small moments where the transformative power of a wish not only touched the kids, but everyone involved. Metcalf promised to hang the picture in his locker, and he did.
Just as the players do every game, Jakob and the other wish kids charged out through the players tunnel to cheering fans with signs in their hands. Each wish kid then helped paint the Seahawk logo in the middle of the field, and Jakob got to complete the bright green hawk eye.
By the end of the week, Keegan, Da’Shawn, Vyom and Jakob gained more than friendships, they created lasting memories together thanks to the Seahawks and Make-A-Wish Alaska and Washington.
Photography Credit: Seattle Seahawks
Special thanks to the Seattle Seahawks, Tavern Hall in Bellevue, Lucky Strike, Hyatt Regency Bellevue Square, Bayview Limousine, and to Make-A-Wish chapters South Carolina, Iowa and North Carolina.