How an air hockey table inspired boy to start nonprofit to help other kids fighting cancer
During this Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, WIVB News 4 is shining a spotlight on causes helping young warriors across WNY, and one nonprofit was started by someone who fully understands what it’s like to fight.
“Try to get rid of the phrase, ‘have to,’ and replace it with ‘get to,'” said Mike Matz, the father of cancer warrior, Colt Matz. “There are a lot of mundane tasks in our lives, like ‘I have to go to work, I have to go to the grocery story, I have to do this,’ that you can change to, ‘I get to do these things,’ because there a lot of kids and families who don’t get to do what we consider regular activities.”
For the first time in three years, the Matz family “gets to” go to school and back to work. It’s been a long road since 2021, when Colt was diagnosed with AML, an aggressive and rare form of leukemia.
“We started out that Sunday morning doing regular things,” Mike said. “[Colt] had been sick, but we were still doing regular things. By Sunday night he had been Mercy Flighted and we were on the 12th floor of Oishei [Children’s Hospital].”
That 12th floor is where the Matz family spent a lot of time. It was time that was scary, lonely and full of unknowns. But in the beginning, something in the hospital’s playroom made him smile.
“I’ll always come back to this… there was an air hockey table in the playroom up there and it was the only thing that would get him out of bed,” Mike said. “It was donated by a wonderful group called Olivia’s Bears and I emailed them and said, ‘Thank you, that air hockey table got him out of bed and got him moving and we saw the first smile we got for awhile.'”
After two bone marrow transplants, and a cancer that relapsed, Colt is finally in remission.
But the people who helped him get through that time are not lost on him, including the joy that air hockey table brought him, so he came up with a nonprofit of his own, naming it “Colt 45 Strong.”
“When you’re at home, you’re happy to be there,” Colt said. “And you’re happy to be certain places. But when you’re at the hospital, you’re probably not going to be happy to be there.”
While in the hospital, his mom and Aunt Jenny did something really special: they decorated his room really nicely. It wasn’t just a few flowers on a nightstand, it was full of window paintings, streamers and more.
That’s how Colt now helps others: he buys items to spruce up rooms across the hospital.
“We have bedding for the bed because hospital bedding is not comfortable,” Colt said. “We also have a comfy pillow and blankets.”
The Matz’s gets a list from a specialist at the hospital with the child’s age, favorite color, animals and more. Then Colt does the shopping. They also buy wall decorations and a family friend makes a sign to hang on each child’s door.
Colt and his dad told News 4 that one’s mindset can change the way they fight something tough like cancer and their goal in all of this is to help other kids gain some positivity during a dark time.
“If your mind is right and if you’re in a good spot, you can do some really amazing things,” Mike said.
On Sept. 18, all proceeds from an event called Shine Gold will go to Catching Dreams and three other local pediatric cancer nonprofits. It’s happening at the Fox Valley Club in Lancaster. Tickets are $75 for adults and $10 for kids.
To buy tickets and get more information, click here.
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Kelsey Anderson is an award-winning anchor who came back home to Buffalo in 2018. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter.
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