In 2008, 19-month-old Elijah Seritt was diagnosed with a medullablastoma, an aggressive brain tumor. He would have surgery three days later, followed by more than a dozen surgeries over the next few months. The procedures and doctor’s visits at Children’s of Alabama meant Elijah and his family spent a lot of time in Birmingham over the next several years.
One Saturday afternoon, the Serritts decided to go to a Blazers basketball game at Bartow Arena. Elijah loved every minute of the thrilling overtime win that day, and he and his family became regulars. They got to know the players and coaches, and Head Coach Jerod Haase started inviting Elijah and his family into the locker room after games. But Haase wanted to do more to bring attention to Elijah’s fight and raise awareness for pediatric cancer. So he got the idea for his players to wear different colored shoes on game days.
Get the whole story in this video.