ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Soccer was Jayden Ojeda’s life for years.
Last year, the game Jayden loved to play literally saved his life.
The 14-year-old budding soccer star, who played against kids much older, tripped over a ball one day and landed on his leg. The pain was intense.
“We caught it early,” says Jayden's mother Alicia. “He landed right on the tumor.”
Doctors diagnosed Jayden with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer. Chemotherapy treatments immediately followed.
Jayden’s spirit and his love of pranking nurses turned him into a star at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.
His reputation as an upbeat kid who refused to be beat by cancer — not to mention his playful aim with Silly String — grew bigger.
The Rowdies soccer team visited him. The Lightning reached out.
Everyone wanted to meet this super kid. And last week... they did.
The hallways were packed with cheering, clapping and stomping throngs as Jayden got to ring a very special bell.
“It was really exciting,” says Jayden. “It means you’re done with chemo.”
Even better, his latest cancer scan was clean.
His nurses had one more surprise for him right after he rang the bell.
A whipped cream pie in the face.
The prankster had been pranked.
Under all that mess you could make out a very big smile.
