Cancer patient enjoys dream night courtside

Cancer patient Damon Smiley, 50, of Malden recently won courtside seats to watch his first pro-basketball game, a game he enjoyed sharing with a former NBA player.

Smiley, who is battling lung and pancreatic cancers, was nominated through a raffle that asked the public to nominate someone deserving.

He attended the Memphis Grizzles game Feb. 12, watching the team beat the Portland Trail Blazers 111-104.

Photo provided From left, Blayme Morgan and his mother, Brandi Morgan, pose for photos with Damon Smiley and Maci Harris. Morgan entered Smiley’s name into a contest to win tickets to the Memphis Grizzles game. Morgan is a registered nurse and certified hospice/palliative nurse for Elara Caring. Harris is an registered nurse and Smiley’s case manager.

Smiley explained, he had been getting bad news before winning the tickets.

“Laying around can get you down sometimes,” he said. “Winning the tickets made me believe in being better. While the world is full of bad, if you get an opportunity, take it and go with it and a have a good time.”

Seated next to Smiley during the game was Tony Allen, who was in the NBA from 2004-2018 and played for the Grizzlies part of that time. A fan favorite, Allen has begun a new role as player development coach with the Memphis Hustle, the Grizzlies’ G League affiliate.

Smiley said, “I had a very good time,” adding the game was more exciting because of Allen. “He is more than a basketball player. He made it a great night to remember.”

A former truck driver, Smiley won the tickets in a raffle sponsored through a giveaway on Twitter by Barry and Michelle Aycock, who asked the public to nominate someone deserving.

Barry Aycock founded AgXplore International. Many of the products created at AgXplore have gone on to be used by farmers around the globe. Between 1999 and 2019, AgXplore grew to become a leading agricultural company with sales in 40 states and 14 countries.

Smiley was nominated by Brandi Morgan, a registered nurse and a certified hospice and palliative nurse for Elara Caring.

“They asked people to nominate someone who they felt to be deserving,” Morgan said.

While Smiley would have liked to take his two sons Zach and Nathan. One is in graduate school and the other is serving in the military in the Middle East.

Morgan said, when Smiley was having trouble finding someone to take him “we gladly took him.”

Her son, Blayme Morgan, along with Smiley’s case manager, registered nurse Maci Harris, went along on the adventure.

Smiley jokingly said Harris was “like a mother hen, but she was very professional.”

“It is truly our pleasure to get to meet and serve each and every patient and family during such a difficult time in their lives,” Morgan said. “They definitely enrich our lives.”s