Kaden, the youngest Bon Jovi fan ever

Oct 01, 2013 22:48


It was a good day at work.

I wrote a story on Kaden, a six-year-old Langley kid who loves Bon Jovi. Kaden has been sick for most of his life, and still struggles with developmental issues after he was born premature at 25 months on Christmas Eve in 2006. His family, including two older siblings, have been living on the single income Kaden's dad was bringing in, which was not enough for luxuries like concert tickets. Enter a friend Carrisa, who knows Caden through a fashion show charity she organizes for B.C. Children's Hospital. Her email somehow got into my editor P.C.'s Inbox, which eventually landed on my desk.

Because the concert was tomorrow, we decided to publish the story online first. I was hoping there would be one kind soul who would offer Kaden a pair of tickets. Instead, I got close to two dozen offers of help. It blew me away. I write too many stories of tragedies and crime and outraged people (outraged over bike lanes, original homes getting torn down, bloated B.C. Hydro salaries, trampled civil liberties rights, the neighbor's ugly backyard, pit bulls, and so on). Sometimes I forget that there are good, generous, kind people out there. Many asked to get in touch with the family: Some had tickets they were willing to donate, some offered to buy the family tickets. One man actually bought tickets and emailed me the PDFs. And a DJ from Jack FM offered the station's tickets, which they were planning to use for an as-yet unannounced contest. The newsroom also had a back-up plan, in case no one came forward. We had no Bon Jovi tickets, but we had Canucks tickets. My editor-in-chief had OKed a trade, if necessary. But we didn't have to, because so many people stepped up. In the end, Kaden's mom Stevie went with an offer from a TELUS exec. He and his team were having a staff recognition event in a private box at Rogers Arena. A team member saw the article and told the exec they should do something; he even volunteered his ticket so Kaden could go. The exec managed to pull some strings and get Stevie and Kaden in. Stevie went with the TELUS suite because it would be Kaden's first concert, and she liked the idea of him being more protected & away from the madness of the floor.

This story restored my faith in mankind. People are awesome. TRULY. I was able to refile my story with a happy ending (Although I have to add: I was told some people on FB posted some rather nasty comments. I didn't read them. I refuse to let trolls ruin my warm and fuzzies).

The only thing that would make this any better is if Bon Jovi reads the story and invites Kaden backstage. I'm not holding my breath, but I can't help but keep some fingers crossed.

work, sbs

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