Young Nebraska Cornhusker Fan Jack Hoffman’s Brain Cancer in Remission
Published at
iStock/Thinkstock(ATKINSON, Neb.) — You may remember 8-year-old Jack Hoffman, the Nebraska Cornhuskers football fan who got the chance to end his favorite team’s spring game back in April with an inspiring 69-yard run to the end zone.
Jack, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in April 2011, fulfilled his biggest dream that day when he scored the scrimmage’s final touchdown and became the game’s leading rusher. But now, another dream has come true for Jack.
His brain cancer is now in remission.
After undergoing more than a year of chemotherapy, his dad, Andy Hoffman, calls Jack’s prognosis “the best possible scenario.”
“We’re so incredibly thankful that the chemo seems to have done its job, and the tumor is stable,” Hoffman told the Omaha World-Herald. “Hopefully it’s knocked out for good.”
Jack, of Atkinson, Neb., rose to fame last April when he and his family received a call from the University of Nebraska’s athletic department inviting them to the Cornhuskers’ game at Memorial Stadium for a special play.
At the time, Jack was on a two-week break from his 60-week chemotherapy program.
“This was kind of an impromptu idea by the University of Nebraska football staff and they just wanted to provide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Jack,” Hoffman explained April 8 on Good Morning America.
Wearing a mini-Cornhusker uniform with the No. 22 of his idol, star Nebraska running back Rex Burkhead, Jack took the field before more than 60,000 fans at Memorial Stadium. He took a hand-off from quarterback Taylor Martinez and then ran clear down the field and into the end zone.
When asked if his touchdown run was as fun as it looked, Jack told GMA, “Yeah, absolutely.”
The moment was caught in a video posted to YouTube, where it has been viewed more than 8 million times.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio