BOZEMAN — On Monday, a young member of the Bozeman community signed a national letter of intent to become an honorary member of the Montana State football team.
At only 5 years old, Loic Blackford lives with a rare genetic condition called pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration, better know as PKAN.
PKAN affects one to three in 1,000,000 children. It causes damage in the areas of the brain that control movement like walking and eating, but that hasn't slowed Loic down from spending time with his new teammates on the Bobcat football team.
Watch the video here:
MSU coach Brent Vigen said Loic's signing on Monday was a big day for the team.
"Our opportunity to get involved with Team Impact, a nationwide organization, came about this spring," Vigen said. "The call was made to our football program to take a good look at a youngster from Bozeman here that had gotten involved with the Team Impact program. So we had him on a visit at that point in time.
"Ever since then, Loic and his family have been able to show us what he's all about," Vigen said.
Tight end Rocky Lencioni shared his biggest takeaway from spending time with Loic.
"It's the way he brings a positive attitude and a smile into everything he does. He's faced a lot of adversity and whether it's a tough day or a good day, every time we get to spend time with him, he's always smiling and positive," Lencioni said.
"It really puts things into perspective for me about the way I can control the attitude that I bring and the energy I have for the people around me."
Offensive tackle Titan Fleischmann called Loic the toughest person he's ever met.
Mid-sentence, Loic reached out to show Fleischmann something he was holding, which got a smile out of everyone in the room before he continued.
"You see this kid after an Instagram post of another surgery, another operation or whatever the case may be," Fleischmann said, "And he's always smiling and always wanting to, like Rocky said, put on a happy face and looks forward to every single day. And I think that's a very important thing to remember all the time."
With the values he has, Vigen sees Loic having no problem fitting in with the team.
"In our program, things that we really value are toughness, resiliency," Vigen said. "And this young guy has that, and then some."
The Loving Loic Foundation will host a gala in Bozeman on Oct. 9 and all who are interested are welcome to attend.
