Oilers' superfan Ben Stelter receives an awesome gift from another inspiration
The story of Ben Stelter, a superfan of the Edmonton Oilers, has taken the NHL by storm during the 2021-22 NHL season. Ben is a 5-year-old fan who has glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer. The Oilers fan was diagnosed with a brain tumour one year ago, going through four rounds of chemotherapy and 30 sessions of radiation to remove it. The entire Oilers team rallied around Ben and went 9-0-0 at the end of the season when he was in the arena.
The story of Ben brings up memories of Laila Anderson and the St. Louis Blues during their incredible run to their Stanley Cup championship in 2019. Laila was diagnosed with Isolated Central Nervous System (HLH) after months of testing, which is a rare and sometimes fatal autoimmune disease in 2018. She was officially diagnosed with results in her body that make too many immune cells. Her story became massive when the Blues, who were at the bottom of the NHL standings in January, rallied around the young Laila and went all the way to win the Stanley Cup.
Both superfans were given their own personal hockey cards from their respective teams.
Yesterday, Ben's dad Mike Stelter (@m_dan25), posted a picture that Laila Anderson sent Ben a letter of support and a signed hockey card of her and the Stanley Cup from 2019.
Mike also posted the story on his Instagram, where you can read the letter that Laila wrote to Ben. Such a wholesome moment between two heroes!
