When Blake Shelton tweets directly to a little boy saying that he can’t wait to meet him, you know there’s a good story behind it.
And this is what it is: Sammy Hodgett, an eight-year-old boy from a small town in Western Illinois, loves Shelton and his music. Especially “Boys Round Here.” When Hodgett was only five, he was diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia after his family found a lump on his neck.
During his chemotherapy, he had to be put into a medically induced coma for nearly six weeks. And it was Shelton’s music that helped Sammy get through the rough recovery after that. So his mom started a campaign to get her son to meet Shelton in real life. “I know he’s just this little boy, and I know so many children have so many issues, but it would just be amazing, he would never forget it,” Hodgett’s mom Becky told their local newspaper.
Hey Sammy!!! I can’t wait to meet you buddy!! https://t.co/qyD2GbzJMq
— Blake Shelton (@blakeshelton) December 5, 2017
Sammy’s family posted their Shelton mission on Facebook, saying that Sammy has always been a big music lover, and that singing and dancing were a huge part of his recovery. “Hearing him sing the ‘Redneck’ song again when he was able to,” they wrote, “was one of the most beautiful sounds we’ve ever heard. Shelton will be in Moline at the TaxSlayer Center on Feb. 23, and it would be amazing for our favorite fighter to be able to meet him.”
The social media campaign worked because the Hodgett’s recently received a letter inviting them to be Shelton’s guests at that show.
“It’s crazy, I just can’t even believe it and you know,” Sammy’s mom said, “he’s this big star and you feel like they don’t always have time to look at that kind of thing.”
Alison Bonaguro
This Article Was Originally Posted at www.CMT.com
http://www.cmt.com/news/1789293/blake-shelton-asks-sammy-hodgett-to-be-his-guest/
