Iowa football will have plenty of new faces in the stands when it takes on Troy at Kinnick Stadium on Sept. 14. 

Amid the sold-out crowd decked in gold will be more than 75 childhood cancer patients from the UI Stead Family’s Children’s Hospital, many of whom are attending a Hawkeye football game for the first time and will get the opportunity to wave from the stands rather than the 12th floor of the hospital. 

This event, called “Project: Hello from the Other Side,” was started by Ashley Hull, whose son, James, is also a cancer patient. While the project is only in its first year, it has received more than $4,000 in donations to cover the cost of tickets and other game-day expenses for the more than 460 individuals in attendance, ranging from kids and their families to hospital staff. 

The Iowa-Troy contest bears a special significance, as the game’s “Be Bold, Wear Gold” theme recognizes pediatric cancer awareness. September is also Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month. 

The idea for the project started back in 2021. A then 13-month-old James was diagnosed with Langerhans cell histiocytosis in May of that year. Hailing from Dyersville, Iowa, the Hulls’ local doctors organized a trip to the Field of Dreams, a baseball diamond carved in a cornfield that served as the set of the 1989 movie of the same name. 

Hull said the excursion was originally intended as a team bonding experience for the medical staff, but she decided to bring along her family and other kids in treatment as well. 

The next year, Hull began fundraising to purchase hotel rooms for far-away families. These efforts continued annually until the spring of 2024, when Hull “went overboard” and had a lot of money left over. 

“Then I said, ‘What if I bring people to the football game?’” Hull told The Daily Iowan. “I assumed I’d get 200 tickets — maybe sign up 200 people.” 

Instead, Hull bought more than twice as many tickets, thanks to multiple fundraising events and generous donations. Hull’s family and close friends bought a cotton candy machine and set up shop at supermarkets. In addition, the group also auctioned off a signed basketball from the 2023-24 Iowa women’s basketball team. Hull said the person who got the ball donated it back, allowing the project to gain another $2,500. 

Despite these efforts, Hull found herself short by around a thousand dollars come July, when she had to purchase the tickets. However, Hull received last-minute donations from the family of 18-year-old Mya Gilchrist, who is the Kid Captain for the Troy game. Additionally, Brad and Darcy Schaefer, whose son, Tate, passed away from cancer in 2021, contributed money for a shuttle bus that will pick up families at the Coral Ridge Mall and drive them to Iowa City for the game. 

Hull, James, and the rest of the family will be in attendance on Saturday. James underwent six weeks of chemotherapy, which sparked a high fever and created long hospital stays. 

“We found ourselves in the hospital a lot, and that’s where we met a lot of families,” Hull said. “I kind of found a sense of peace, trying to put myself out there to do something for others.” 

About a year after the chemotherapy, James was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Doctors expected a 9-11 month time frame for him to live, but it’s been more than a year since the tumor discovery, and Hull said her son is doing “really well” after radiation treatment. 

“Thank God we got the best worst news,” Hull said. “I do a lot of stuff to help raise awareness for kids with cancer, and I know how bad it could be and we’re just lucky. Our family’s very lucky that our son is doing so well. I’m driven by a guilty conscience because I feel guilty that our son is doing well when we have families that we know whose children are nearing the end.” 

Hull said some families who will be in attendance on Saturday have lost their children to cancer. She explained that these families with “angel” kids will join other families in experiencing the Wave from the stands, taking in a moment of triumph and optimism. 

“It’s almost like you defeated something to be able to get out and be on the other side of that because you don’t think that’s going to happen,” she said. “For me, just seeing a smile. I think it’s important that the kids get to see a better side of Iowa City and I think that side is in the stands and not in the hospital.”

Kaelyn O’Brien and her family will be in the Kinnick stands on Saturday, having heard of the event through Hull’s Facebook page. Kaelyn, 11, hails from Jesup, Iowa, and was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in May of 2024. 

She underwent four cycles of chemotherapy and was in remission after the second cycle, her mom, Tammy, said, adding that the family received scans in September confirming that Kaelyn is still in remission. 

In her free time, Kaelyn loves spending her time with friends and is on a volleyball team. She’s a passionate Caitlin Clark fan and enjoys basketball and softball. 

The Iowa-Troy matchup will be Kaelyn’s first Hawkeye football game, and she’s most looking forward to participating in the Wave at the end of the first quarter. 

Max Bailey has experienced the Wave from the football stadium before, having attended Iowa women’s basketball’s Crossover at Kinnick in October 2023. The 9-year-old from Clinton, Iowa, is also a basketball fan, splitting his loyalties between the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Fever. 

Max was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia a month after his fourth birthday and has undergone three-and-a-half years of treatment at the Stead Family’s Children’s Hospital. He finished treatment at the end of March 2022 and is still in remission. 

Max’s mother, Traci, is looking forward to meeting with family friends at the game. After spending time in the hospital, the Baileys have connected with other families going through similar situations.

“Some of them live far away, we don’t get to see them very often,” she said. “You know, events like this, we get to reconnect and see each other and get to do fun things that aren’t hospital-related … It doesn’t have anything to do with a finger poke or taking blood or anything like that.” 

Traci and her husband haven’t been to an Iowa football game since Max’s diagnosis. Traci said she knows what it’s like for the families watching from the hospital and got emotional describing what Saturday will mean for her. 

“Hopefully that’ll give them hope,” Traci said. “That they’ll be out and that that will be them someday [in the stands], they won’t be in the hospital anymore.”