Friendship that Transcends a Game
A Tik Tok video is going viral of local Alpena High School Junior, Jack Hood, and the high school hockey team, with over 139 thousand likes and 1,300 comments.
The video was taken from the recent Alpena High School hockey cancer game vs Gaylord and shows the Wildcats celebrate with Jack after another blow out win. The video quickly went viral and gained over a million views with Barstool Sports and SportsCenter picking it up, and it only highlighted part of a friendship between the team and Jack.
Jack has cerebral palsy as well as Dystonia, which is a movement disorder in which involuntary sustained or intermittent muscle contractions cause twisting and repetitive movements, and abnormal postures. Though the disease is lifelong, it has not affected his personality, humor, or ability to make friends. “I feel like I was like a child, you know, so you know like a lonely child, and they just swooped in and took me in as one of their own, and we’ve been winning ever since that Hancock game,” Jack said.
Jack’s first game of the season was the home opener against the Hancock Bulldogs where he was brought out to do the puck drop and receive jerseys from both teams. After attending his first game, he has become friends with every player and can’t wait for each game. “Those boys should be proud of themselves for being kind and Jack’s friend,” Jacks mother Melissa said. “Their parents should be proud of them. I know it’s difficult as a parent, because obviously people don’t understand Jack, but if they take one minute to talk to him, then he just melts everybody’s heart and that’s what he did all on his own.”
