Tommy has been a lifelong soccer player and fan. He developed his love for soccer through his dad, Gerd, who showed him the ropes of soccer from a young age. In February 2024, at the age of 16, Tommy began experiencing pain in his knee. A biopsy uncovered that he had Ewing sarcoma, which is a rare bone and soft tissue cancer that primarily affects children, teens, and young adults.

“I just took it from there; I was like ‘you tell me what I need to do to beat this, and I will do it,’” recalls Tommy.

Tommy completed 14 rounds of chemotherapy and surgery in between. A second opinion from a different doctor suggested an amputation of the leg if Tommy wanted to continue being an athlete. Tommy decided to proceed with the surgery and prepared to say goodbye to soccer as an athlete, with hopes of being involved in the sport in other ways. His amputation took place in February 2025, and because of Tommy’s tenacity and determination, he was walking on his prosthetic leg just 6 weeks later.

Being a life-long soccer fan, Tommy was quick to decide on a soccer-related wish after being referred to Make-A-Wish Minnesota. Tommy expresses, “My wish stemmed from my dreams of becoming a professional soccer player in the future. I remember when I was 12 or 13, just pretending I was at Allianz [Field] in my local park just scoring goals. It is what I have always dreamed about.”

The Minnesota United FC quickly jumped on board to make Tommy’s wish come true. On July 17th, Dayne St. Clair and Tani Oluwaseyi, Tommy’s two favorite Minnesota United players, showed up to his house to let him know that his wish was being granted.

Tommy was shocked to see the players at his door, but after a beat, Tommy leapt out of his chair and excitedly let the players in. The players presented a custom jersey with Tommy’s last name on it and invited him out to practice to prepare for his chance to be an official player for an upcoming game.

Tommy’s wish day took place on August 10th, where he received a tour of Allianz Field, got his very own locker with his custom jersey hanging up, watched his own promo appear on the big screen during the game, signed autographs alongside the players, and headed to the field for the game. After warmups on the sideline and on the field, Tommy was ready for his debut. Tommy started the match with the ceremonial kickoff and headed downfield to score on the opposing goalie, Zach Stefan. The ball was passed to Tommy, he lined up his shot and scored his first ever professional soccer goal. Tommy quickly threw his crutches to the side and ran to celebrate with his teammates as his parents proudly looked on from the sidelines and the entire stadium of Loons fans cheered him on.

“I’ve gained so much wisdom; I’ve gained so much involvement with community,” says Tommy. “I value so much more the people I surround myself with and people I don’t even know. It’s the people that make everything so special.”

“Childhood cancer absolutely sucks. Not just because the treatment is difficult and it's heartbreaking to watch the future you hoped for your child stolen instantly, which is already devastating... but because it fundamentally changes a family's life,” Liz writes. “You [Make-A-Wish] helped put our family back on track. It's the kind of support families like ours desperately need but can't recognize or even fathom. I wasn't sure who would really bring us all back to life. It turned out to be all of you.”