An NFL quarterback and a NASCAR driver go to a golf course in Cle Elum. No, this isn't the start of a joke.
Instead, Russell Wilson and Kasey Kahne were at the Suncadia Resort earlier this week for The DRIVE, an event the Seahawks' quarterback and the NASCAR driver from Enumclaw co-hosted to raise money for Seattle area Children's Hospital's Strong Against Cancer initiative.
In the second year of the event, which included a concert and a golf tournament, more than $600,000 was raised, according to a tweet from Wilson. The auction alone raised more than $500,000.
In his weekly visits to Children's Hospital, Wilson saw what can be done with immunotherapy treatment, leading to him captaining the Strong Against Cancer initiative.
"The past three years being in Seattle, going to the Seattle Children's Hospital," Wilson told ESPN’s Marty Smith. "But the one story has to be why Strong Against Cancer occurred, the whole emphasis for Strong Against Cancer. There's this kid named Milton, he was 19 years old, about a year and a half ago. African-American male. Very good-looking guy, a model, played quarterback. And he had cancer three different times.
"And at 19 years old they told him he only had 24 hours left. The doctor came in and told him there's really only one more thing we can try, and we're thinking about trying. It was a whole idea about taking the T cells out of a child and regenerating, re-energizing them, and putting them back in. Within two weeks, Milton was healed.
"It's miraculous. They've been able to save more than 20 kids in the past year. It's a very special thing. I had to see it firsthand. Milton's a friend of mine, I see him every once in a while, talk to him. He's very strong. He's living life the way he always wanted to. Those are the things Kasey and I really wanted to be a part of, to challenge other celebrities to encourage and raise money to save people's lives like Milton's."
