Stuck at Boston Children’s Hospital, facing unimaginable health challenges, a 12-year-old Chelmsford boy received hope from Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson.
Henderson sent a video to Jack Jolie, rooting for the bubbly youngster to overcome all the obstacles stacked up against him. It was just 10 seconds, but Jack says the message means the world to him.
“What’s up, Jack? TreVeyon Henderson here, man,” the promising rookie says in the video. “Man, I hope you get better. I just want to let you know that I am praying for you, man. God bless, man.”
Jack received the video on Jan. 2. Eleven days later, he was discharged from the hospital and headed home. The boy will soon be evaluated for a liver transplant, as he is battling internal bleeding from portal hypertension.
On Sunday, Jack and his entire family will have their eyes glued to the television as the Patriots face the Seahawks in Super Bowl LX. This is New England’s first championship game that Jack will fully remember, and he hopes that Henderson, his favorite player, “finds the outside” for a long rushing touchdown.
Win or lose, Jack says he will always root for Henderson and that the running back may not be aware of the full magnitude of his video of encouragement.
“It helps me a lot,” Jack told the Herald via phone ahead of Super Bowl weekend. “I know that they are there for me, and I know that everyone is here for me. It definitely is big.”
Jack’s mother, Meghan Jolie, says her son has the “best support system there is,” with a large family, a big group of friends, and “really understanding” teachers. The network has grown to include Henderson and the Patriots organization.
“It kind of brings it full circle,” the mother said of Henderson’s video. “It doesn’t take much to help, especially with these celebrity athletes. For them, to say ‘Send a 15-second video,’ hopefully it doesn’t take a whole lot out of their day to do, but it really meant a lot going through this type of time.”
As a 2-year-old in 2015, Jack was diagnosed with a rare form of severe combined immunodeficiency, which doctors describe as a life-threatening genetic disorder where infants are born with little to no immune system.
Jack then received a bone marrow transplant to combat the diagnosis, but his immune system rejected it. Over the years, the youngster has suffered from symptoms of graft-versus-host disease: scarring issues with his eyes, lung and liver disease, among others, his mother said.
Over the past few months, Jack has been admitted to Boston Children’s Hospital several times and spent time in between the intensive care unit and regular care. He was home less than a handful of nights between Dec. 20 and Jan. 13.
“It’s a lot of waiting and seeing,” Meghan Jolie told the Herald. “We take every day as it comes, deal with what we have to, and figure it out.”
Through it all, Jack has turned into a Patriots superfan. He watches more games than not, even when hospitalized, and has become knowledgeable about football and the NFL.
Proof: “I am really shocked by how much Mike Vrabel was able to change the team from four wins,” Jack said of New England’s head coach. “Now, they are in the stinkin’ Super Bowl.”
“The best part is that we have beaten a lot of great defenses,” the youngster said of the Patriots’ Super Bowl run, becoming the first team in NFL history to defeat three top-five defenses. “If we just get rolling in the beginning, we have a chance to win this one and get banner 7 here in Foxboro.”
Jack and his family attended the Week 15 loss to Buffalo. Despite New England’s 10-game winning streak ending, the young fan gained an ultimate VIP gameday experience, including club seats and pregame field passes.
Jack’s mother’s boyfriend, William DiTullio, applied for the opportunity, with the Patriots selecting the family for the experience.
While on the field, star cornerback Christian Gonzalez spotted Jack and threw a ball over to him. The family then went over by the tunnel where the Patriots are introduced, and Jack tried his best to get Henderson’s attention, but couldn’t.
“Jack has a very big personality, but his voice didn’t quite travel,” his mother said, chuckling.
In the loss, Henderson recorded two rushing touchdowns of over 50 yards. “We were going wild,” Meghan Jolie said.
Days after the game, Jack was admitted to the hospital. DiTullio shared Jack’s story with Stacey James, asking the Patriots’ vice president of communications whether Henderson could send Jack a little video.
A few days later, James emailed DiTullio, saying, “Hopefully this will brighten Jack’s spirits and let him know that we’re all thinking about him.”
“That stuff always thrills me,” DiTullio said of the video. “I just feel like there’s not a lot of that in the world today, and too many people are just self-absorbed.”
“They could have easily just taken the request,” he added, “and said, ‘We get a dozen of these a day, we can’t fulfill them all.’ I know how much he loves TreVeyon.”
Jack quickly responded to Henderson’s message, thanking him for the video.
“It really meant a lot, and I hope you guys have fun and do your best in the playoffs. … Maybe once I get out of Boston Children’s Hospital, we can maybe meet up sometime and play catch just because you’re my favorite player.”
Henderson responded to the video with a message on X the evening before the Patriots’ Divisional Round game against the Texans: “Glad you are headed home Jack! God bless,” the running back wrote.
