INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Santa is apparently a soccer fan! Well, at least a lot of his elves are. Each Christmas the ‘Elves of Christmas Present’ work to make the holiday extra special for a child or teenager right here in the metro.
This year, they had their work cut out for them as they attempt to pull off a “Christmas Eve at the Center’ surprise for a young man.
Nick Hibbeler was invited to this gathering under the guise of this being a pickup soccer game with a number of his friends on the field. He arrived to discover this was actually a party being thrown in his honor!
“I had no idea what was going on and it made me feel like a million bucks when I walked in,” Hibbeler said. “It’s a great Christmas gift, I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.”
It was all the idea of ‘The Elves,’ who are known for their anonymous charitable works. The 16-year-old from Parkville was diagnosed with testicular cancer this past summer and has been through six rounds of chemotherapy, not to mention radiation and surgeries.
Once he walked into the Independence Events Center, Hibbeler was greeted by the entire Park Hill High School boys’ soccer team and an arena filled with well-wishers and loved ones.
“It’s kind of funny because when his mom talks to me, every time that I saw Nick was after school, either at soccer practice or a game. He’s always grinning from ear-to-ear, because when he’s at soccer practice or soccer games, he’s a totally normal kid, doesn’t worry about anything else,” Park Hill Soccer Coach John Marchbark said.
Friends who have supported him through his battle said they looked forward to the big surprise.
“I’ve seen him at his lowest points. We visit him at the hospital right after chemo treatments when he can barely walk and talk. Today it will be amazing to see him smile,” teammate Alec Feist said.
It was all designed to provide some Christmas joy for a family that’s been hurting. Hibbeler said his treatments are going well and he’s hopeful to be cancer-free in 2014.
Nick’s mother, Carrie, works behind the scenes at FOX 4 and said the event came at the perfect time.
“He was very sad last night and he said, ‘I just want to get back to being a normal kid. I want to go play soccer, I want to be with my friends,” she said. “And I said, ‘You know, it will happen soon enough.’ Little did he know that it would happen tonight, so it was an amazing event for all of us.
