WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Brailee Green may be an 11-year-old, but trust and believe that she is filled with strength.
“In January of 2023, we got an MRI done. I had been trying for several years to get doctors to listen to me. Something was not right with her, and unfortunately, a large mass was found in her brain,” said Natasha Thrash, Brailee’s mom.
Eight months into Brailee’s chemo treatment, her mom, Natasha, received a gut punch.
“I was given 12 months,” she said.
Natasha was also diagnosed with brain cancer.
“It’s just me and her. So we do what we need to do and keep going,” Natasha said. “You can’t just look at the negative every day. You have to be positive.”
That positive point lies with “Gold As Ice.”
“We’re trying to help out these kids through the toughest times of their lives,” said Jacob Noble, President of Gold As Ice.
The nonprofit hosts benefit hockey games to support kids battling cancer. Brailee is their latest beneficiary.
“I mean, they’re doing a lot of travel. (Parents) are skipping work some, sometimes they can’t work at all. So we’re just doing whatever we can to make sure that they’re there for their kids,” Noble said.
Gold As Ice’s first benefit game happened in 2018.
“It was really just a big, big push to help out our local teammate,” Noble explained.
The player’s 18-month-old son had been diagnosed with cancer.
“It was just everything, like an emotional everything. It turned into being a family,” said Alyssa Stegman, Carter’s mom.
Fast forward to today, Carter is 8 years old and cancer-free.
Gold As Ice has expanded to help over 100 kids in both Wichita and Tulsa.
“It means a lot to these kids when they look up to the crowd, and they see all these people,” Natasha said. “They don’t even know them, and they’re just here to support them because they’re going through a rough time.”
On Saturday, November 9, Gold As Ice will host its annual benefit game in honor of Brailee and another local kid.
One of the teams will wear Brailee’s name on their jerseys.
The game begins at 5 p.m. at the Wichita Ice Center.
Tickets are $5, and there will also be a jersey auction.