Country music stars banding together to make dreams come true.
A boy in Central Texas who is currently battling leukemia recently got to meet some of his country music heroes, and it was all thanks to a state trooper that had a connection with Cody Johnson. Hudson Swinnea has been fighting cancer for almost a year, and often uses music as an escape.
His mother, Krystal Swinnea, told KWTX10 that they listen to a lot of country music to help pass the time during long car rides to and from his cancer treatments. Some of his favorite artists to listen to are Cody Johnson, Jelly Roll, Ernest and Shaboozey.
The state trooper that is friends with the Swinnea family also happens to be friends with CoJo (they’re both from Huntsville, TX), and reached out to see if the country music star would be willing to FaceTime the young boy battling with pediatric cancer. That call turned into a FaceTime with both Johnson and Jelly Roll, who both invited Hudson and his family to join them at their respective Houston concerts.
Krystal told the Texas news station that Johnson was gracious when the Swinneas got to meet him, and luckily for Hudson, Jelly Roll is currently touring with Ernest and Shaboozey as openers, so they were able to meet them all at once when Jelly Roll played at the Toyota Center in Houston on November 17th:
“He shook Cody Johnson’s hand when we got to meet Cody, and he talked to him. Then, there was lots of fist bumps with Jelly Roll, and he did talk to him as well. Ernest and Shaboozey, he did talk to them.”
While meeting all of the country stars was a phenomenal experience for the Central Texas family, Jelly Roll apparently went above and beyond in the time that he spent with Hudson. The “Need A Favor” singer included the young boy in his pre-concert-prayer, and even shouted out Hudson ahead of the last song of the night.
As Hudson’s mom explained:
“He said this amazing prayer before he went out on stage. We got to stand in their circle and pray with them. He prayed for us, and he prayed for Hudson. The whole experience was very touching. The last song is when he gave Hudson a shout out and said that he was fighting and to keep fighting.”
As you might imagine, the visits with Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Ernest and Shaboozey have lifted the spirits of the young kid that very much deserves all of the experiences that have come his way thanks to the family friend’s connection.
The Swinnea family feels very grateful that Hudson got to meet so many of his favorite artists, and the meetings went over so well that the young boy fighting cancer has told anyone and everyone he can about it:
“He has not quit talking about it. He’s told everybody, and he has definitely said over and over that they’re the best nights ever, so I definitely think he had a great time, and it’s really boosted his spirit.”
Hudson still has a long road ahead of him. His mother Krystal told KWTX 10 that he has over a year’s worth of treatments and hospital stays remaining, which is why these spirit-lifting moments are so important in the young man’s fight against cancer.
You can hear more on the story – and see some of the videos and pictures of Hudson meeting various country music stars – in the video below:
