Gloria Sees Her Grandson Play in the America Cup 2014

Gloria is a 74-year-old living in Memphis, TN. One of her joys in life is spending time with family, especially her grandson Kevin. Kevin is a talented soccer player who competed in the America Cup 2014 held in Toronto, Canada, which was put on by the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association. Because of Gloria’s love for her family, support of her grandson, and desire to see him play for the US Paralympics National Soccer Team, Gloria’s Wish of a Lifetime was to go watch Kevin compete in person.

Playing against the odds

Kevin has been a soccer player his whole life. When he was 14 years old, he suffered a major stroke that greatly affected his frontal lobe. Gloria stated that without soccer, he would not be doing as well as he is. Now, at the age of 22, Kevin has been asked to play for the US Paralympics National Soccer team and has been playing with them for the last year.

Gloria has always been his number one supporter, and even got an award at his high school for being their team’s “greatest and most loyal fan”. While Kevin has been playing with the US Paralympics National Soccer team, he went to play in Spain and Gloria watched as many matches as she could online, but had not been able to see him play in person. More than anything, she wanted to be able to support her grandson and cheer him on from the sidelines.

A visit to Toronto

Because of Gloria’s generous nature, personal sacrifice, and desire to support her grandson, Wish of a Lifetime sent Gloria and her daughter Donna to the America Cup 2014 in Toronto, Canada on September 18, 2014. Gloria has watched him play soccer all of his life, and as his biggest fan, she was able to finally show her support in person!