Skating With Kings
Charity Gives Boy Rink Time With Team
(from the Daily News)
By Amy Raisin Darvish
Staff Writer
February 21, 2004 - EL SEGUNDO - Surrounded by highly paid athletes and a locker room full of hockey equipment Friday, 6-year-old Cameron Costanza was the center of attention after practicing with the Los Angeles Kings.
Still in his Kings jersey and skates as the team cooled down in the locker room at HealthSouth Training Center, the Saugus preschooler - already a veteran of three heart surgeries - had some pressing business.
"I have to go potty," Cameron said to his father, Chris, who with his wife and seven children arrived at the ice rink in a limousine as the guests of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which arranged for the boy to get his wish of skating with the Kings.
After the tiny hockey fan's impressive performance on the ice, however, Kings winger Luc Robitaille insisted that, like all Kings players, Cameron should use the team restroom, rather than the facility's public restrooms.
Off Cameron went, just one of the guys, distinguished not as much by his small size as by the giant smile still plastered on his face.
"I think he's just overwhelmed by all of this," said Lisa Costanza, a mother of seven with an eighth on the way. "He's a little maniac. He's the most athletic one in the family, which is kind of ironic considering he's the one who isn't supposed to be able to do any of this."
The fifth of seven kids, Cameron was born without a right ventricle in his heart. He was only two days old when he underwent his first surgery.
There is little documentation on the rare condition, his mother said, so the long-term prognosis is difficult to predict.
But on the ice Friday morning, the same players whom Cameron idolizes - the giants who the boy toppled with hip checks and humbled with his shots on goal - were impressed by his grit and stamina.
"We had been playing for a while and I asked him if he wanted to go back to the locker room, " said Kings forward Ian Laperriere, who developed a bond with Cameron. "He says, 'Nah, I want to stay on the ice.' He's really good. He even twists his stick like we do."
Laperriere said the rosy-cheeked ball of energy reminded him of his own son, who is nearing his second birthday. When the hockey veteran came off the ice, he headed straight to the Make-A-Wish Foundation spokeswoman to inquire about Cameron's health.
"This kid's going to stay (in my mind) for a while," Laperriere said. "You can't help but think about your own kids and you thank God for their health. But did you see him skate? He's really good. This boy's going to be all right."
Cameron passed the puck, scored and even skated through the legs of one of the big players on his way to the net. Before he even stepped on the ice, some of the players had already dressed him in a custom Kings jersey, the name Costanza stitched above the No. 1.
Chris Costanza, an investigator with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, was holding his son on his lap when Laperriere slipped the jersey over Cameron's head. This gesture, Costanza said, brought him to tears, but he was careful not to let his son see.
"I was taking everything in and it started to get emotional," Costanza said. "But I didn't want to let him see that. It would have changed it for him and I just wanted him to enjoy his day."
After the practice, Laperriere invited Cameron, his parents and his six siblings to be his guests at the Staples Center for tonight's game between the Kings and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation arranged for the limo, the practice session and the locker room autograph session with the help of Valencia Business Associates, an economic organization that donated $1,000 for Cameron's wish.
For more information on the Make-A-Wish Foundation, log on to www.wishla.org.