Shaun White's 2014 Winter Olympics journey might be over, but before he left Sochi, he made one 10-year-old cancer survivor's dream come true.
Ben Hughes, of St. Louis, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010. On Tuesday, he was in Russia with his family and the Make-A-Wish foundation when he got the chance to meet his hero, NBC's "Today" reports.
The superstar snowboarder was leaving a round of TV interviews to meet with another group of reporters when the Washington Post's Mike Wise told him about the group of kids. Instead of saying hello from behind the barrier, White hopped the fence to hug Ben and 19-year-old bone-cancer survivor Kaitlyn Lyle.
“We got there very early, so we had a very good spot near the press,” Ben's mom told NBC's "Today." “He just happened to be very close and someone mentioned that Ben wanted to meet him and he hopped right over the fence."
Ben wasn't the only one excited to meet the Olympian.
“Oh my God, oh my God, I love him,” Lyle said after meeting White, per USA Today. “He’s even cuter in person.”
The 27-year-old athlete finished fourth in the Sochi men's halfpipe final. He fell during his first run and ultimately missed out on a high enough score to snag his third straight gold medal.