Two-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White did a round of TV interviews and was about to meet with another group of reporters when he hurdled the fence in the mixed zone to make a kid's wish come true, according to the Associated Press.
Moments after qualifying for the halfpipe final with the best score in the competition, White jumped over the fences separating the athletes from the fans for a gold-medal moment, the AP reported.
Ten-year-old Ben Hughes of St. Louis, had leukemia diagnosed in 2010. He came there with Kaitlyn Lyle, a 19-year-old Alabama undergrad, who four years ago lie in a hospital bed at Sacred Heart Children's Hospital in Pensacola, Fla., undergoing chemotherapy treatments for osteo sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, according to the AP.
They were part of the Make-a-Wish Foundation's party in Sochi. Both their dreams involving coming to the Winter Games and seeing their hero, White, the red-headed extreme sports star who won gold in the halfpipe in Torino and Vancouver, the AP reported.
"I was hospitalized all of February in 2010 and watching Shaun helped me get through that time in my life," Kaitlyn said, according to the AP. "My goal is to leave here as Mrs. Shaun White. Okay, maybe not. But it would be cool to meet him."
Ben's mother, Liz, said her son had undergone radiation and chemotherapy and has been cancer-free for some time.
After White saw Ben in his USA beanie cap and waving his miniature American flag he jumped over the barrier, catching some of the best air of his career, the AP reported.
Both kids were ashen-faced and didn't know what to say at first before they all exchanged hugs and kind words for about a minute, according to the AP.
