14-year-old South Elgin cancer patient surprised with trip to Sunday's Bears-Packers game
Fourteen-year-old cancer patient Kaylah Gonzalez knew something was up Wednesday as she walked up the sidewalk to her South Elgin home after school.
"I just saw all these people here when I got off the bus, and I was like, 'Oh no, what's happening?'" the South Elgin High School freshman said.
In the crowd on her driveway was Chicago Bears mascot Staley Da Bear who - using cue cards - surprised Gonzalez by inviting her and her family on an all-expenses-paid trip to Green Bay this weekend to watch the Bears take on the rival Packers at Lambeau Field during Sunday Night Football.
It certainly was a peak in what her mom Damaris Gonzalez called "a roller coaster couple of years" as Kaylah has had acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Kaylah was diagnosed with cancer on Aug. 6, 2020, at Advocate Children's Hospital in Park Ridge.
"We were in disbelief," her mom said. "It was so hard and so much to take in."
Since then, her treatment has included daily chemotherapy pills in addition to monthly doses administered through a port in her chest, as well as chemo through her spine every three months.
"She is a warrior. She is a fighter," Damaris said. "She's had her bad days - she developed kidney stones and lost her hair twice. But she's such a positive girl and has so much faith."
Assuming all goes well, she will get to ring the bell marking the end of treatment in November.
But first, she gets to take in her first in-person Bears game.
Christina Enea, director of brand partnerships at Advocate Aurora Health, said they work with the Bears every year to do a "dream come true" moment and send a patient on an away-game trip.
Kaylah, along with her mom; dad, Luis; and brothers Kadriyel, 17, and Kaleb, 9, will first visit Halas Hall on Saturday to send the players off as they board their buses. Then the family will fly to Green Bay.
Kaylah on Sunday will do a few meet-and-greets with players, Coach Matt Eberflus and GM Ryan Poles while enjoying pregame field passes before sitting in the Bears fan section of Lambeau Field.
"I'm super excited. I've never been to an actual game," said Kaylah, who added that she's been a Bears fan "pretty much my whole life."
"My dad has always been a Bears fan, so I got it from him," she said.
Her favorite player?
"Justin Fields. Number One."