"Ryan Grant admittedly is bored out of his mind. On crutches since his ankle surgery in September, he misses his day job - running by linebackers for the Green Bay Packers.

So he's checking his e-mail more than usual. On Friday when he saw a message about an 11-year old Packers fan with an advanced stage of leukemia, he asked his agents to buy a ton of Packers stuff. He knew the situation was dire but the boy was trying an experimental treatment. So he planned a trip to Milwaukee. For the next day.

"Can I spend some time with him or does it have to be quick?" Grant wanted to know.

The relationship between the Packers and their fans has always been special, but Grant wanted to give this boy a story to share with his friends. A friend of the boy's family, Mark Winters, and Grant, through his agents, began planning a surprise visit.

But this is a story that will break your heart. Because even though there's always a winner every day in the sports pages, there are still unimaginable facts of life that bring everyone - even star athletes - back to reality.

And back to the oncology unit at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, where the thought of little kids fighting for their lives brings up all kinds of questions of fairness and all kinds of regret about sweating the small stuff. And where Ryan Luxem has spent way too much of his young life.

Ryan had six healthy years. That's it. Sweet faced and apple cheeked, Ryan had a swollen lymph node that led to a diagnosis of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia on May 2, 2006.

He and his parents, Matt and Amy, of Union Grove have been regulars at Children's ever since. They fought the leukemia with chemotherapy and radiation, but it came back in 2008, 2009 and February of this year. He's had bone marrow transplants. He's endured painful stomach aches and failing kidney function.

But there is a real boy in there - not just a patient. So Ryan loves dinosaurs, origami and the Green Bay Packers, especially Donald Driver, Aaron Rodgers and, of course, Grant."