SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – It's game day in the desert. UCF and Baylor will kick off at the Fiesta Bowl.
This week, the players have been the center of attention as they prepare for the biggest game in school's history, but the Knights cheerleaders are also in Arizona. They helped spread a little good cheer at the children's hospital in Phoenix.
Perhaps the biggest fan, is 9-year-old Michael. He has had 10 surgeries and cannot speak.
Tina Chavez is Michael's mother. "Michael has Charge Syndrome which comes with a lot of health issues he also has Autism so hes very delayed he's learning how to speak though and he's very, very happy though all the time. He's, he's our miracle," she said.
For Michael, holidays in the hospital are nothing new, but this year it's a bit different.
"These kids, what they really have, they have had some misfortune come there way and being able to share and make their day just a little bit better. It just really means a lot to our team and the baylor team," said Joel Wadzinski, sophmore at UCF.
Just ahead of the game, both cheer squads spent hours with children who for hours stare at white walls thinking about their struggles. For one day though, "he forgets about not feeling good for a little while..he just forgets that he's sick, [laughs]", Chavez.
Mom laughs because for the first time in a long time, she is seeing her son laugh too.