WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — A 10-year-old hockey player is raising awareness for pediatric cancer after losing his older brother to the disease.
Raylan Fox plays hockey for the Tampa Bay Crunch. The travel ice hockey team is based at AdventHealth Center Ice in Wesley Chapel.
WATCH: 10-year-old hockey player honors brother, raises awareness for pediatric cancer
Raylan wanted to bring awareness to childhood cancer after losing his brother, Mason, to leukemia in 2024.
Mason was the oldest of four children.
"It feels good just to like keep it going, spread the love and the hope that Mason gave to everybody in the hospital and around him," said Raylan.
September marks Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month.
Raylan's teammates are wearing gold shoelaces for the month of September. They're also using a special gold hockey puck on game days.
"We got 240 laces ordered and they are all wearing them, all gold laces on the 14 teams," said Leslie Fox, Mason and Raylan's mother.
Mason loved hockey. He began playing organized hockey by 5 years old. A banner hanging at AdventHealth Center Ice celebrates his life.
"At the time, he was on a rec select team and within the next month, he was going be trying out for the Crunch, actually when he was diagnosed and was in the hospital, he missed tryouts, but they said you already made the team. We had already been scouting you, so he was an honorary teammate for that year that he fought," said Leslie.
His family created the Smile Like Mason Fox Foundation. The foundation raises awareness to childhood cancer, research and funding.
The foundation also hosts annual toy drives. The original idea for the foundation came from Mason.
"He was approaching his 11th birthday when he started getting really sick and was in the hospital, and he said, for my birthday instead of getting toys for me, I want to get toys and hand out at the hospital, which he had been doing his entire fight," said Leslie.
Raylan keeps his brother's memory alive by playing the sport they both loved.
"I like hockey because it’s just the one place where you get to go and have fun and do what I love most," he said.
"Being able to skate with his last name on the back of my jersey and just being a part of the Smile Like Mason Fox Foundation means just everything," added Raylan.
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