JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A.J. Bouye looked down to make sure nobody was in the way and then jumped off the ledge.
After the green, blue and gray pieces of foam broke his fall, he settled into a comfortable position. That’s when things started getting crazy.
Several of his Jacksonville Jaguars teammates and small children joined him in the pit and pretty soon the foam pieces were flying all over the place. It was just another part of the fun for Bouye as part of the NFL and American Cancer Society’s Crucial Catch Survivor Celebration at Velocity Air Sports in Jacksonville on Tuesday night.
“It was good seeing the smile on the kids’ faces and everything,” Bouye said. “I enjoyed every bit of it. I could do this plenty of times. I love having fun, especially jumping around.”
Bouye is a member of the American Cancer Society’s Athlete Council and is participating in the Crucial Catch Challenge by pledging $100 for every interception the Jaguars make from Oct. 8-29. He also is encouraging others to make a pledge for each interception and hopes to reach $10,000 by the end of the month.
Bouye lost his mother to breast and brain cancer when he was 15 months old, so being able to work with the American Cancer Society to help others impacted by the disease is special to him. In addition to the American Cancer Society, seven other groups and the people they’ve helped were present at the event: the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund, Wolfson Children’s Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, Dreams Come True, Make-A-Wish Foundation, The 100 Black Men of Jacksonville, Inc., and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
“It means a lot to me,” Bouye said. “My mom was affected by it and it took my family through a lot. There’s no telling what’s going on with all the families of those who’re affected. I want to do what I can to just help and bring awareness to it and raise money for it.”
So far his donation total is $500 after the Jaguars intercepted Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger five times in a 30-9 victory Sunday at Heinz Field.
One of the cancer survivors at the event was 9-year-old Kacey Risher. She was diagnosed at age 5 with bone cancer and underwent a surgery called rotationplasty in which doctors removed the cancerous part of her leg and then reattached her lower leg. Kacey’s lower leg was rotated 180 degrees and now her ankle has become her knee.
The Risher family received assistance from the Jay Fund during Kacey’s treatment and now attends as many of the organization’s events as possible. Jeremy Risher, Kacey’s father, also tries to help other families by working in the insurance business and specializing in cancer insurance.
“She’s a daily inspiration,” Jeremy Risher said as he watched his daughter run off to play on the trampolines. “People get mad they’re stuck in traffic, people get mad, ‘I don’t like my job’ or whatever it is, but it gives you a new outlook on life whenever you see a 5-year-old and all the little kids that organizations like the Jay Fund help. How bad is your day really? You had to wait to get a coffee, traffic was bad on the way home, but for these little guys it’s day-to-day life and they do it with a smile.
“To see all these little kids who have been through something in their lives. They don’t care. Not one of them asks, ‘Why me?’ or whatever. They’re here to have fun.”
So was Bouye.
“These kids come out every day and they’re smiling, just fighting every day and I look up at things like that,” Bouye said. “They inspire me just as much as I inspire them, too.”