Fort Worth boy with stage 4 cancer fulfills dream of playing for Brewer basketball team
Looking at 9-year-old Carter Escobar, he looks like another happy and healthy kid. He loves basketball, has an infectious smile, two loving parents and a little sister, Peyton, who lights up the room.
It’s all normal on the outside, but on the inside, Carter is hurting.
Carter has stage 4 cancer and Long QT syndrome, and the prognosis is grim. Tumors, which were first detected in his spine, have spread throughout his body. The chemo treatments have stopped. The Escobar family has reached a point where they are no longer pursuing curative treatment and instead are shifting their focus to the quality of life.
“We don’t know how much time we have left, but it’s likely not more than a few months,” said his mother Rachel Escobar.
So the family and others are helping Carter scratch items off his bucket list.
Last week, he got to be an honorary Fort Worth police officer for a day, he recently spent one evening with his favorite high school basketball team, the Brewer Bears and on Monday he attended a Dallas Mavericks game.
“He is more tired everyday and his tumors continue to grow and cause pain,” Rachel said. “We want him to be comfortable and surrounded by love. We know God is with him and will carry us all through.”
A dream come true
Brewer celebrated senior night during its boys basketball game against Grapevine on Feb. 14.
The entire gym was full of yellow, which represents the color of Carter’s cancer, and shirts and signs that read ‘Carter Strong.’ Even the Grapevine players wore yellow socks.
“He had come to a few of my basketball camps,” Brewer coach Jason Porostovsky said. “Followed his story and went to the hospital to visit him. Then his bucket list came out and he wanted to be a Brewer basketball player, so we thought we could provide him with something special.”
The Bears got on the bus shortly after 6 p.m. that night and picked up the Escobar family from their home a few miles from the school. They had a police escort.
“Carter loved that,” Rachel said.
Then the team went back to the school where Carter got to shoot around before the varsity game. He even went to the locker room, where the team presented his very own No. 12 jersey.
Peyton even got to wear a cheerleader outfit and perform with the varsity squad.
“The whole idea was to give him one night where he wasn’t thinking about what he was dealing with,” Porostovsky said. “We accomplished that, and I’m proud of my kids for making him feel welcomed and treating him like one of them.”
NBA stars record introduction videos
Carter was in the starting lineup, but wasn’t introduced by Brewer’s announcer.
They left it up to three NBA stars: Shaquille O’Neal, Dirk Nowitzki and Dwight Powell. They sent in videos that were played on the gym’s jumbo-tron.
“We’re all thinking about you, we’re all rooting for you and wish you the best,” said Powell, a forward for the Dallas Mavericks.
“You’re going to do great,” added Dirk, who played 21 seasons with the Mavs. “Go out there and compete and enjoy. Have fun and play with your teammates.”
Then Shaq, a basketball hall of famer and four-time NBA champion, got the crowd really pumped up.
“He’s a shooter, he’s a slasher, he’s a worker, he can do it all. 4-foot-7 from White Settlement, Texas ... CARTER ESCOBAR,” Shaq yelled before starting a Carter chant that filled up the gym.
1 for 1
Brewer won the tip, and Carter took the ball inside the paint.
He made his only attempt.
“Coach P let us know the situation, and we were honored to help out Carter. It was his night,” Grapevine coach Jeremy Mills said. “It helps put basketball in perspective. We came in with a game plan and wanted to win, but we were completely focused on Carter first and foremost. My heart goes out to him and his family. It was a special night.”
Brewer celebrated Carter and seven seniors that night: Curtis Moffett, Chris Washington, Keevon Kennedy, Andrew Juarez, Braelon Taylor, Devin Avent and Nathan Wright.
“Glad we could do that for him,” Avent said. “It was on his bucket list so we had to make it happen. He had a great time. He made the shot, his name was called. He was excited.”
“He’s a great kid. He was giving me drinks and snacks all night. It was fun,” added junior Luke Bagg. “It was amazing to see how many people care and love him. We had people come out just to watch him.”
The Bears (23-9) opened the playoffs Tuesday with a 57-50 win over Little Elm. They will face Burleson Centennial at 6 p.m. Friday at Aledo.
Meanwhile Carter crossed off another item off his list by attending an NBA game. The family watched the Dallas Mavericks defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 139-123, on Monday.
“That night was magical. It was so overwhelming to see and hear all the support. To hear a crowd of people cheering our son’s name was a moment I’ll never forget. The Brewer boys were tremendously compassionate and kind.” Rachel said. “Coach P and his wife, Tammy, pulled out all the stops to make what could’ve been a pretty cool experience into something much more.”
This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
