Shark Life: Selena's Wish

Sports are more than just the game on the ice - it's also about the fans in the stands or watching at home.
One such fan is Selena Urban, a renal transplant patient from Los Banos, CA.
She wasn't always a Sharks fan; her fandom actually started from watching games with her family during her treatment and while she was in the hospital. And when she was granted a wish by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, all she wanted to do was to meet the team that helped her through her treatments.
And the team decided to go a bit further.

Yep, that's Joe Thornton inviting Selena out onto the ice to join the team photo.

Such a perfect photo.
Joe Thornton had even more surprises in store - he asked her if he could drive her to the game the next day.
Oh, and he had socks with her face on them.

The next day, Jumbo fulfilled his promise and picked Selena up from her hotel (and yes, he was wearing socks with her face on them).

As Thornton is notorious for arriving early to the arena - VERY early - he took the time to give Selena a tour of the Sharks locker room and led her out to the Sharks bench.

The day prior, Sharks head coach Bob Boughner asked Selena to do something pretty awesome: read out the starting lineup before the game.
And she did!

Soon enough was the highlight of Selena's night: dropping the puck at the game!
While normally Sharks captain Logan Couture would take the draw, it only made sense that Joe Thornton would join Selena for this moment.

And the game was on! In the first period, Evander Kane scored to ensure that Selena would be able to celebrate with the crowd.

There was more to come during the game. A familiar face greeted Selena: Sam Tageson, who was the first Sharks Make-A-Wish recipient!
(Hayden Bradley, the other wish recipient, had planned to come but his hockey team advanced in a tournament so he couldn't make it).

After the game, the entire team stopped by to sign some autographs and take photos with Selena and her family.

All in all, it was an unforgettable experience for Selena. And that's one of the reasons sports is so great: being able to provide such amazing memories for deserving people like Selena.