- William Martel, a young Caps fan fighting a brain tumor, modeled his radiation mask on Logan Thompson’s Screaming Eagle setup
- Thompson surprised him with a visit, a joint mask-design session, and a signed stick nearly as tall as the kid
- Read below for the moment and what his mom said about it
Logan Thompson made a young fan’s whole week.
William Martel, a Capitals fan battling a rare brain tumor, designed his own goalie mask as part of his radiation treatment. He built it around Thompson’s Screaming Eagle setup, right down to the six Caps players’ names, numbers, and faces along the side, with the Screagle logos up top.
Thompson saw the design and decided to show up in person.
Watch the Capitals’ video of the visit:
The two sat down with a few blank mask outlines and went to work, deliberating colors before they got started. Martel went with blue and red and a few yellow accents.
Thompson also handed him a signed stick that stood about as tall as the kid himself, joking that Martel would grow into it. “I bet I will,” Martel shot back.
At one point the goalie asked Martel his favorite number. The answer was 43, which got a laugh out of him.
“43? Haha, all right,” Thompson said, clearly thinking of his good friend and favorite prank target, Tom Wilson. He ended up working Wilson’s number onto the chin of his own mask design.
Martel’s mother left a comment on the Capitals’ post about what the visit meant to her son.
“Thank you for making his treatment go just a little easier. Today was the first time he has ever smiled in the waiting room.”
Thompson’s Screagle mask has been one of the coolest in the league for a while now, and he’s been a steady answer in net for the Capitals this season. For one kid in a radiation room, that paint job turned into something a lot bigger.
