Dec 18, 2007 7:47 am US/Mountain
Highlands Ranch Teen Inspires Wood Carver
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (CBS4) ―
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Dennie Ibbotson's carving of Kyle Blakeman
CBS
A young athlete in Highlands Ranch who inspired manager Clint Hurdle during the Rockies run to the World Series is being remembered with a carving.
Wood carver Dennie Ibbotson was so inspired by the story of Kyle Blakeman that he wanted to honor him. Saying Blakeman's "spirit came through me," he spent 300 hours carving a 3 foot by 5 foot carving of him.
Blakeman died from a rare form of kidney cancer at age 15, but not before catching the heart of many, including Hurdle.
Blakeman had struggled with cancer for 2 years when a family friend saw Hurdle at the grocery store. The Rockies manager asked for Blakeman's name and phone number. That led to phone calls, hospital visits and a special friendship.
After a loss to Pittsburgh in August, Hurdle visited Blakeman in the hospital and asked him for some luck: a favorite number.
"I was surprised he didn't give him 21, which was his baseball number," said Joanna Blakeman, Kyle's mother. "But he gave him 64 (his football number)."
Hurdle wrote that number on the lineup card in the next game. The Rockies won in the bottom of the 9th 6-5. He took the lineup card back to Kyle Blakeman late that night and thanked him for the good luck. Hurdle started scribbling 64 on every game's lineup card after that.
Four days later, Kyle Blakeman died.
When the Rockies swept into the World Series with a 6-4 win, they scored all 6 runs in the 4th inning.
"I think God is really letting us know that he's okay," said Joanna Blakeman at the time. "That he's with him, he's safe and he's happy and he's watching the Rockies."
Hurdle attended the unveiling of Ibbotson's carving in Highlands Ranch Monday night, where friends were wearing clothes that paid tribute to his memory.
"The significance of a community, of you people making a difference, you guys and you girls wearing those jerseys, of me seeing you show up at the hospital for the fundraiser -- everything else ... this young man had such significance," Hurdle said.
Friends have set up a special fundraising sale of shirts that say KB 64 on them that pay tribute to Blakeman. The shirts can be purchased at Champs restaurant in Aspen Grove in Littleton, and the money goes to cancer research.
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