Penn football team adopts courageous 4-year-old

On April 9, 2014, while sitting with doctors at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Nick and Ashley DeCapria got the news that no parent ever wants to hear: that their 2-year-old son, Vhito, had just two weeks to live.

Vhito, now 4, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, an atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (AT/RT). A tumor the size of a pineapple was immediately drained of two liters of fluid. Aggressive radiation and chemotherapy started three days later.

"It hit us like a rock," Nick DeCapria. "After I got the news and was walking back to my car, it felt like I was carrying a piano on my back."

The DeCaprias, who have another son - older brother Vinnie - relocated from Jersey Shore, Pa., just south of Williamsport, and have been here ever since, first staying at the Ronald McDonald House in West Philadelphia and later moving into an apartment.

In August, despite long odds, Vhito was declared cancer-free. The Penn football squad named him a team captain before this season., The Quakers participate in the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, which pairs chronically ill children with college sports teams.

The DeCapria family has been to all of Penn's local games. On Saturday, after the Quakers' disappointing Ivy League loss to Dartmouth, coach Ray Priore admitted to being cheered up by seeing little Vhito smiling and waiting to greet him with a high five as he left Franklin Field.

"He was smiling from ear to ear," Priore said. "When you know what he's been through in this short period, it gives you a perspective. Knowing that we could help him smile that way, that we can impact a life, is uplifting."

Priore was a college teammate at Albany of the foundation's founder and president, Denis Murphy. Priore's brother, Stony Brook coach Chuck Priore, participated in the program a few years back. Penn's men's soccer team partnered with 7-year-old Tanner Falato, diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, in August.

One of the side effects of Vhito's chemo treatments is partial loss of hearing. He has been resistant to wearing the hearing aids prescribed for him. This was brought to Priore's attention and the coach took action, enlisting freshman linebacker Tristan Peyton - who wears a hearing aid - to speak with Vhito.

"I showed him that I'm a football player but I wear a hearing aid, too," Peyton said. "I just heard that he's started using it. So it's cool to know you helped in that regard."

jmitchell@philly.com

@JmitchInquirer