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Villanova stars pop out of playhouse to surprise cancer-stricken boy
Soon after their 4-year-old son Blaise was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer two months ago, Annie and Andrew Davis asked for a favor from a family friend.
The Pennsylvania residents wanted him to remodel their unfinished basement so that Blaise would have a play room.
Contractor Tim Moore readily agreed to tackle the project with one stipulation. The Davis family was forbidden from coming downstairs to check out their new basement until the project was done.
When Annie, Andrew, Blaise and 2-year-old Lucy finally got to see the finished product Wednesday evening, they found more than the new bathroom and fresh paint and carpet they were expecting. Tucked against the back wall was a newly built playhouse with a pair of surprise visitors from Villanova's national championship basketball team inside.
"It was unbelievable," Andrew Davis told Yahoo Sports. "We're big basketball fans in this house and my wife and my father-in-law have been very big Villanova fans since they were kids. Blaise had followed Villanova during the season and he was very much aware of who the players were and how important they were."
Seniors Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu learned about Blaise thanks to Moore. The contractor managed to get in touch with Temple coach Fran Dunphy's wife Ree, who reached out to Villanova assistant Ashley Howard on Moore's behalf.
When Ree Dunphy told Moore to expect two Villanova players on Wednesday night, he never thought it would be Arcidiacono and Ochefu. Arcidiacono is a four-year starter at point guard and a former Big East player of the year, while Ochefu is the Wildcats' starting center and another of the stalwarts of their unexpected national title run.
"Tim told us he was expecting the 10th or 11th guy, which would have been fantastic in its own right," Davis said. "Then out of the car step those two."
Arcidiacono and Ochefu introduced themselves to Blaise, invited him into the playhouse and made him feel comfortable instantly. Later they gave him a handful of gifts, from a Villanova cap and shirt, to a Wildcats-themed cake, to a basketball signed by every Big 5 basketball coach.
For Andrew and Annie, the best gift of all was seeing their son happy and being able to forget about his cancer for a couple hours. Since doctors diagnosed him with Ewing's Sarcoma, Blaise has undergone chemotherapy and frequent testing and he will have to have invasive surgery on his femur later this year.
"It was everything you hope to experience as a parent," Davis said. "As a parent, there are many a night that we've sat up and talked about what this means for our son. The doctors have assured us he doesn't think like that. He just knows when he has a bad day and knows when he has a good day. This was one of those times when he was just Blaise and we weren't thinking about the MRI he had this morning. We were thinking about this wonderful experience he was getting to have."
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
