December 20, 2007 -- ANAHEIM -- Every year the Ducks hold a Fan Fest for season ticket holders. They sign hundreds of autographs and interact with their fans. This year, one brief interaction has led to a great story about a brave little girl, a bear, and a player named Drew Miller.

Haili Todrick with the Stanley Cup and her Drew Miller bear     (Photo by Wayne Francis)

Drew Miller is a rookie for the Ducks, even though he has his name on the Stanley Cup. He debuted with the Ducks during the playoffs last spring, playing three games with the team. He got his first NHL goal and point on October 17 against Nashville. He has been scoring points off the ice as well, just by being himself.

Haili Todrick loves her teddy bears, Hannah Montana and hockey. At the Fan Fest, she had most of the Ducks players sign the bear with the Stanley Cup Champions jersey on it. One Duck took a little more time with Haili. He took the bear and gave it a BIG hug, smiled and said, "It's so cute! Can I keep it?" Of course she said no.

Fast forward a month. Haili started to lose weight. A lot of weight for a seven year old girl. She had to miss a lot of school. The doctors put her through lots of tests. As a form of comfort, her mom, Yvonne, and dad, Jason, decided to get her a new bear. Her bear had a Ducks jersey and she named him after the player who took a little extra time at the Fan Fest – Drew Miller. More weight was lost, more tests were required. Through it all, Haili was brave and tough because, in her words, “ ‘cause Drew Miller is.” Clinging tightly, her bear, emblazoned with the #18, was there for every procedure, every poke, prod and prick.

Haili didn’t realize that the player she chose loved kids and had a special place in his heart for sick kids. She just liked him because he interacted with her. Drew started a Spartan Buddy program three years ago when he was at Michigan State University.

Angela Howard, the director of student-athlete development at MSU said, "a lot of people do things for one or two days or do one or two events a year. They all say the right things. But Drew's different. He lives it." Drew has already approached the directors at the local children’s hospital, CHOC, saying he wants to do more, wants to make a difference.

The Todricks were watching warm ups before one of the Ducks games. Haili had her special bear with her, as always. One of the players noticed the bear with number eighteen on it. Let’s face it, Drew has only been a Duck a short time and there aren’t a lot of Drew Miller fans out there, so that would be noticed. He pops back into the locker room and a few seconds later, Drew Miller pops his head out, sees Haili and her bear and smiles at her. At the end of warm ups, Drew hands Haili a puck, saying, “here you go!” before returning to the locker room.

It is the small things that mean a lot. Jason and Yvonne still had no diagnosis for their daughter in spite of more tests, more blood work, more scratching of heads. Haili was referred to the doctors at CHOC to see if they could determine what was making Haili sick. At this point she had gone from 58 pounds to under 45 pounds. Haili was getting weaker. That puck gave her a boost.

On December 12, the Todricks went to the Ducks game as usual. Drew took notice of Haili in her usual spot at warm ups and smiled at her. After the game, the family decided on a whim to see whom the guest would be on the post game radio show. Who would appear as the evening’s guest? None other than Drew Miller. Haili walked up to the table and planted her bear face up. Drew looked at her, looked at the bear looked back at her and said, "This is my bear, isn't it?" He picked the bear up, flipped it over and looked at the number... he gave a sly grin and then gave the bear a huge hug and said, "Can I keep it?" He laughed, set the bear down and signed its jersey. Then he picked it back up and gave it another big hug and said, "Are you sure I can't keep it?"

Sometime around 2:30am Haili awoke, looked at her mom and said, "He signed my bear!" There was a pause. Then she said, "He knows who I am!" There on Haili’s face was the big grin and the spark in her eye that had been missing for so long.

Jason commented, “While these little acts of kindness are probably no big deal to Drew, they mean the world to Haili.” Jason started a thread on the internet message board where he is a frequent contributor. How else could he thank Drew Miller for what he had done for his daughter? Someone sent that thread to the Ducks, who put up a link on their website. Drew’s father came across the link and forwarded it to Drew.

Little did Jason and Yvonne know, but little Haili was starting to mean a lot to Drew as well. The next day at practice, when asked about the little girl whose bear he signed, Drew acknowledged that he had read the message board thread and knew who she was. His own family had been through medical problems and Drew knew what it was like to be scared and worried with uncertainty. What were the odds that he would be the guest the night before? Drew shrugged his shoulders and said, “Things happen for a reason.” Upon hearing that Haili would likely be a patient at CHOC when the Ducks visited the next week, Drew was certain he would make the extra effort to visit her. He was already thinking about getting her one of his hockey sticks.

Sure enough, the doctors wanted to put Haili in the hospital, if only to get her weight stabilized and run more tests. Now the doctors were talking about potential illnesses, such as cystic fibrosis as a cause for the weight loss. The Todricks waited through the weekend before admitting Haili to the hospital. It gave her time to go to the Wild Winger’s Kids Club party on Saturday, where the kids could see the Stanley Cup. The bear made it into the bowl of the Cup. Haili also was able to see the hockey game on Sunday, even though Drew was a healthy scratch.

On Monday, Haili was put in the hospital, down to 41 pounds. The room number? Eighteen. Wednesday night, Drew was still a healthy scratch. He had been looking for Haili in her usual spot in warm ups, but didn’t see her. After the game he said, “Look what I got for her!” as he unfurled a huge number eighteen jersey with the signatures of all the Ducks players. He was grinning from ear to ear and wanted to know if that would make her happy. Absolutely! He also made sure he knew how to spell her name, so he could personalize one of his sticks and bring that along as well. Although sad to hear that she had been hospitalized, Drew was happy to get to visit her the next day.

Thursday rolled around looking gray and dreary. All of the Ducks players arrived at CHOC and were split up amongst the different floors. Some wore Santa hats, others wore reindeer antlers. They all wore grins and were happy to visit the children and take their minds off their illnesses, if only for a short period of time. The Ducks also handed out Wild Winger Kid’s Club kits which had been donated by fans. Close to 1,500 kits had been donated, which meant that CHOC could distribute them not only to their in-patients, but also to their out-patients as well. In addition to the kits, the Ducks distributed blankets courtesy of Hockey Fights Cancer. Especially fitting on the oncology ward.

The Ducks broke up into three groups and visited different floors of the hospital. Drew was enjoying his visit, but as he carried his stick and jersey, you knew he was just waiting until he could visit Haili and her family. Finally he moved to her floor and came into her room.

You cannot imagine the look on Haili’s face as her favorite player made a personal appearance at her bedside. Then Drew handed her the signed stick that read, “To Haili, Merry Christmas!” On the tape on the handle were the letters “M.M,” for his cousin Matt who had died of leukemia in early October. Haili was speechless and overjoyed at the same time. Jason and Yvonne were blown away. Brother Aiden watched giggling, thrilled to see his sister so happy.

Drew did not walk away. He sat down and visited with Haili and her family for over an hour. They talked about all sorts of things, including some of the tests Haili had been through. The MRI for a brain tumor – negative. The best part of the experience was getting to wear goggles and watch the movie “Shrek” while the procedure was being done. Then Haili got to see the pictures of her brain. Cool stuff! The test for cystic fibrosis – negative. That was the worst worry for Jason and Yvonne, who has been constantly by her daughter’s side ever since she was admitted. On the plus side the tests have been negative. On the down side, there is still no diagnosis.

Drew just sat back in the chair next to her bed and talked about Haili’s bear. He picked it up, hugged it, and once again asked, “Can I keep it?” The Todricks are beginning to wonder if they need to get Drew Miller a bear of his own! They talked about fishing for bass at the lake. They talked about pets, including Drew’s bulldog, Jelly. Jelly has been staying in Michigan with Drew’s family, but now that Drew has moved out of the hotel and into an apartment, Drew can bring Jelly home after Christmas. It looks like Drew isn’t heading back to Portland any time soon, although he acknowledges that can happen at any time. “Hockey is a business.”

Haili was watching her favorite show, Hannah Montana, singing along with all the songs. Drew watched right along with her, in no hurry to leave. When the Ducks were in Chicago, she happened to be at the game and both Drew and Haili thought that was pretty cool to see her in person.

On the internet message board, Allducks.com, there was a contest for t-shirt designs for Haili. Drew and Haili pondered their choices and made a decision about which one they liked the best. They agreed upon the one that had the bear in the picture – “Haili’s Drew.” Those t-shirts will be printed up in the near future and offered up for sale at the site. Proceeds will go to charity and they will be seen around the Honda Center. Fellow board members and people around the world have already responded to Haili’s story and chipped in to buy her a youth sized number eighteen jersey and contributed more than $400 which will go the charity of Haili’s choice, likely to be the charity that supports her eventual diagnosis. Drew was amazed at how this story was making an impact around the world. He was just being himself.

At long last it was time to wrap things up and go home. Haili gave Drew a huge hug and a present – a homemade felt Christmas stocking that said “Haili and Drew BFF.” (That’s best friend’s forever, for those that don’t know.) The rest of the players had probably long since left the building.

Yvonne said that she hadn’t seen her daughter that animated or happy in months. It was the longest spell of energy she had mustered since first becoming ill two months ago. It was a glimmer of her old self. Both parents wondered if they would see that again. Haili quieted down and curled up beneath her blanket under the watchful eye of mom and dad, her energy finally drained. More tests are on the horizon and there is still uncertainty and worry. With any luck Haili’s weight can stabilize and even increase so that she can be home for Christmas Day. This story is not wrapped up neatly with a happy ending yet.

But for now, it is likely that Haili will fall asleep with a big grin on her face as she holds her Drew bear tight. This was the best Christmas she could ever have, thanks to a player willing to be generous with his time and his heart. Drew Miller may not have a lot of fans yet, but he will never have a bigger fan than Haili Todrick. Haili Todrick has a big fan in Drew Miller, as well. After all, things happen for a reason.

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