Cam Newton visits sick boy before surgery

A post on Facebook reports that Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton made a sick Phenix City boy’s dream come true.

Austin Deckard, 10, suffers from advanced pulmonary hypertension and is at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Egleston Hospital for a procedure to be conducted Wednesday.

The boy is a big Auburn fan, and his physical education teacher at Lakewood Elementary, Courtney Cooper, began a social media campaign to get the boy to meet Newton, his favorite player.

“He may not make it,” Cooper said of the operation. “Please pray for a miracle.”

It was right before Thanksgiving that the boy told Cooper he would like to meet Newton.

Newton showed at the boy’s hospital room Tuesday and played a game with him.

Newton remarked, “I thought I had an unknown number, but dude I’ve gotten about 100 calls about you.”

Larry Gierer: 706-571-8581, @lagierer

This story was originally published December 28, 2016 at 8:29 AM with the headline "Cam Newton visits sick boy before surgery."