NFL Star Calls Fairport Teen Battling Cancer
By: Vanessa Herring
Updated: January 9, 2013
There was a sea of yellow at Tuesday night's match up between the
Fairport and Pittsford high school hockey teams. While some were
wearing team colors, a lot were showing support for Blake Cognata. The
17 year old Fairport student is battling a rare form of cancer that has
spread to all the bones in his body, "it just broke my heart to say the
least," said Blaze Riordan who helped organize Tuesday night's event,
"but I knew that Blake was a fighter and I knew he would be able to
fight through this and give it his all."
Supporters wore yellow ribbons with the word, "strong," and t-shirts with Blake's signature phrase, "find your strong." Blaze Riordan played lacrosse and hockey with Blake and says his former team mate has been incredibly strong, "he just wants you to look down at yourself and realize the powers you have and just realize the little things in live are what matters you've got to look at the big picture and live your life to the fullest 55."
Cognata is being treated at Strong Memorial Hospital and couldn't attend Tuesday night's game, but friends say they're keeping him in the loop through social media, "we'll take tons of pictures and videos and we'll make sure he sees how much the Fairport family is supporting him tonight," said Dillon Lucas, who helped organize Tuesday night's event.
It was the social media web site Twitter that got Cognata the surprise of a lifetime. His favorite football player, Minnesota Vikings' Adrian Peterson, called him after the hash tag #APCallBlake went viral, "I heard he was shocked and at first he probably didn't believe it," said Dylan George who started the hash tag, "because if anybody got a call from a celebrity wouldn't be able to believe it at first but it definitely put a smile on his face."
Blake also received an honorary diploma from Fairport High School. Friends aren't allowed to visit him in the hospital, but they did send a special message, "I would just tell him I love him and that I'm proud of him," said Lucas.
Supporters wore yellow ribbons with the word, "strong," and t-shirts with Blake's signature phrase, "find your strong." Blaze Riordan played lacrosse and hockey with Blake and says his former team mate has been incredibly strong, "he just wants you to look down at yourself and realize the powers you have and just realize the little things in live are what matters you've got to look at the big picture and live your life to the fullest 55."
Cognata is being treated at Strong Memorial Hospital and couldn't attend Tuesday night's game, but friends say they're keeping him in the loop through social media, "we'll take tons of pictures and videos and we'll make sure he sees how much the Fairport family is supporting him tonight," said Dillon Lucas, who helped organize Tuesday night's event.
It was the social media web site Twitter that got Cognata the surprise of a lifetime. His favorite football player, Minnesota Vikings' Adrian Peterson, called him after the hash tag #APCallBlake went viral, "I heard he was shocked and at first he probably didn't believe it," said Dylan George who started the hash tag, "because if anybody got a call from a celebrity wouldn't be able to believe it at first but it definitely put a smile on his face."
Blake also received an honorary diploma from Fairport High School. Friends aren't allowed to visit him in the hospital, but they did send a special message, "I would just tell him I love him and that I'm proud of him," said Lucas.
