Cancer and other illnesses effect thousands of children each and every day, but a group of Ohio State offensive linemen and Ed Warinner did their best to brighten the hours of a few of those kids at Nationwide Children's Hospital.
Warinner headed a six-man contingent of Buckeye offensive linemen into a slew of children's rooms for roughly and hour Wednesday afternoon, spending time with those less fortunate than them and bring smiles during the dragging days of arduous treatment.
"Really, you realize how blessed we really are as athletes," left guard Billy Price said. "Most of these kids have a hard time walking. It's a humbling experience for us."
Humbling in the sense that among all the wires, hand sanitizer and oxygen tubes, children's spirits are uplifted when they get a chance for an autograph or photo with an Ohio State football player to break up their day.
Ohio State Slobs visiting with Jason, even getting in an O-H-I-O photo. pic.twitter.com/sGCD25sxft
— Eric Seger (@EricSeger33) July 15, 2015
"It just gives you a big picture perspective on life," offensive tackle Jamarco Jones said. "It’s not just about a game, there's real life situations that people are going through and just being able to help them out and go talk to some kids and brighten their day while they're going through these hard times is just a great feeling."
An Ohio State spokesman said the Buckeyes do their best to visit those children and play video games, talk football, or share stories about life in general.
"It's always great to come back, help others and cheer their day up. Kind of re-center yourself a little bit," Warinner said. "It's a good event, it's great to get these kids down here to brighten some kids' days. These kids all look up to these guys and hopefully it made their day. You can't do this enough and our players love doing it and we love helping facilitate stuff like that."
Pat Elflein, Taylor Decker and Jacoby Boren visited one side of the hospital while Jones, Price and Chase Farris took the other. The former three took turns battling a patient, Aiden Neiberline, in Wii racing, but all failed to top him.
"All we can do is block," Decker joked, before claiming Aiden had lied to him about how to use the controller. "I get it; competitive advantage. I'd do it, too."
The competition is a way to help those who are ill feel normal again, if for only just a few minutes.
"Just the fact that we can come out here and just have such an impact on these people's lives that are going through those situations, just trying to uplift their spirits, it's just a blessing to be able to do something like that and pay it forward," Farris said.
Having the resources available like those who play football at Ohio State do make it easier to pay it forward, but it also knocks them back and shows what's truly meaningful.
"It's a huge reason why we came to Ohio State," Farris said. "To be able to be here because of the game, lift us up on a pedestal to do so much for so many people, just having an impact is an amazing feeling."
"Everyone has problems, but it puts into perspective what’s really important in life. I think it’s great," Boren said. "I know we have a lot of fun coming here and talking to the kids. It’s a lot of fun, seeing the smile on their face, every time we have an opportunity we love to come out."
