Levi Ervin has already faced a ton of adversity that no human should be subjected to at his age.
At just eight-years old, Ervin, and his two-year-old sister, Paisley, were involved in a horrific car accident with their grandparents. While on route in Missouri, a chunk of metal fell off a tractor trailer in front of their grandparents' car and flew underneath the vehicle, piercing the gas tank and jamming itself underneath, causing the vehicle to catch fire.
Levi was fortunate to flee the car without any serious damage to his body, but his sister unfortunately wasn’t as lucky. The grandparents were able to free Paisley from her car seat thanks in part to a passing good samaritan, and suffered third-degree burns in the process. After spending some time in the hospital with her own burns, Paisley passed away in September.
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong reached out to the Ervin family, offering Levi a one-day contract with the club. The Missouri native will travel with the team and be an official Blue when the team plays the Hurricanes in Carolina next Friday at PNC Arena. Accommodations include a night at the team hotel, and with close up seats with an invitation to all the behind the scenes pre-game and post-game action.
"Levi has been through quite a bit at such a young age," Armstrong told Chris Pinkert of StLouisBlues.com. "To have him be part of our group and be around our players, once they hear his story, they're going to be excited to have him around us."
“Anytime you can give back to a young man or a family in any sense, it’s rewarding for us and it’s exciting to be a part of it.”
While the contract will only last for a day, it’s a great initiative by the Blues to help restore what’s been a horrible period of time since his sister passed.
You’ll be able to follow Levi’s journey with the club on the Blues’ social media accounts next week. Well done to the entire St. Louis Blues organization on this one.
(h/t St. Louis Blues)
