Cancer patient uses his "Make-a-Wish" to get new helmets for his high school football team

Flagstaff High senior Stephen "Budda" Dick is battling back from a brain tumor

While struggling to overcome a brain tumor, Flagstaff High (Arizona) football player Stephen Dick used his "Make-a-Wish" to get brand new football helmets for his high school football team. His story was told in a televised segment on NBC before this week's broadcast of Sunday Night Football. / Flagstaff Football Instagram

In a remarkably unselfish act, Flagstaff High football player Stephen "Budda" Dick used the "Make-a-Wish" he was granted while battling brain cancer to secure new football helmets for his high school team.

Dick's story was profiled in a video segment aired on NBC prior its Sunday Night Football broadcast of the NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons.

Dick appeared to be a healthy and strong high school student weh he suffered a seizure during an off-season football workout in June of 2023. After some testing, the football player was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

When contacted by the Make-a-Wish Foundation, a non-profit foundation which seeks to fulfill the wishes of seriously ill children, Dick did not ask for anything for himself. He wanted the new helmets to better protect his teammates on the football field.

Recently, the Flagstaff team received fulfillment of Dick's wish, 55 new state-of-the-art Riddell SpeedFlex helmets.

"Football has been my life since I was 5 or 6," Dick said in the NBC feature. "For me, it was a big I just can't have this wish be for me."

Dick's teammates and family members also got their biggest wish granted and it had nothing to do with football helmets. After a successful surgery and chemotherapy treatments, Dick's brain scans are clear and he is on the road to a full recovery.

"Every single person who has been there for me, I am so grateful for you," said Dick. "You're like a family to me."