9-year-old brain cancer patient spends day with Flyers: "He was yelling on the bench"
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Tuesday was a night to remember for a young Philadelphia Flyers fan battling cancer. The orange and black honored 9-year-old Owen Micciche during Hockey Fights Cancer Night.
Owen, an Upper Black Eddy, Bucks County, native, was diagnosed with a pediatric brain tumor at 6 months old, and he's been fighting ever since. In July, doctors at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia found two new tumors in Owen's brain and spine.
The captain of the Genesis Hockey Club -- he wears No. 85 -- Owen skated with the Flyers during warmups, had his own locker in the team's Wells Fargo Center locker room and read the team's starting lineup. Owen even took a rookie lap with Flyers winger Owen Tippett and was on the bench during the game.
The importance of the moment was not lost on Flyers head coach John Tortorella.
"I'm thrilled we were part of it with him tonight. Great kid. He was yelling on the bench," Tortorella said. "I hope for a little bit it helps him. It certainly puts things into perspective if you understand what he's going through. I wanted him to enjoy it. The team was fantastic with him. I hope he had fun. I hope his family had family because there's a lot of stuff that they're going through. I don't even think about the other stuff compared to that."
The Flyers lost, 4-1, Tuesday to the Carolina Hurricanes. Owen wasn't the only one honored either.
Luis Estyvan Maradiaga, 11, had the ceremonial puck drop. Luis was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma in June 2023 and received six weeks of radiation at CHOP.
The team also honored 97.5 The Fanatic morning show host John Kincade during an in-game presentation. Kincade beat cancer for the third time this year -- he's officially been in remission from colon cancer since Nov. 14.
