Tampa Bay Lightning: 3-year-old fan attends first game after 16 months in hospital

TAMPA, Fla. - A three-year-old fan is attending his first Tampa Bay Lightning game Thursday night after spending the first 16 months of his life in the hospital.

Lightning mascot supports local family

The backstory:

John Ream was born in April 2023 at 23 weeks and two days, weighing just 1 pound, 6 ounces. His mother, Nicole Ream, learned during an anatomy scan at 20 weeks pregnant that she was in active labor.

"He was never stable, but he got real sick at two months old, really sick, and they told us that he had hours to days to live," Nicole said.

John was intubated for months, and eventually got a trach put in.

Nicole and her husband, Jordan, brought John home at nine months old, but he coded two days later.

"And then, he came home again and then coded two weeks later again at home, and then after that, we were like, we're not bringing him home again," she said. "He coded five more times in the hospital."

John spent 16 months at St. Joseph's Hospital.

Surprise visit from Thunderbug

What they're saying:

Nicole and her husband, Jordan, are Tampa natives and lifelong Lightning fans.

While John was in the hospital, she says a charity organization tried to make John's room feel like home by decorating it with Lightning gear.

Little did they know, a stuffed Thunderbug would become John's favorite toy.

"And the only thing that made him smile was the Thunderbug stuffy," Nicole said.

When John's first birthday rolled around, his parents threw him a Lightning-themed birthday party at the hospital, and they were joined by a special guest.

Thunderbug surprised John for his birthday. From then on, Thunderbug made several more visits to John and his family while he was in the hospital.

"When he would be in there and playing with John, it was like you could, you blocked everything else out, and you saw, 'I have a normal child. I have a normal life. He's playing with Thunderbug like every other kid does'," Nicole said.

Nicole and Jordan held out hope that they would be able to go to a Lightning game as a family one day.

Young fan attends first game

What's next:

John went home from the hospital in September 2024, escorted out by Thunderbug.

John started talking less than a year ago, and had his trach removed in June.

Finally, John's doctors gave him the stamp of approval to attend a Lightning game. On Thursday night, John and his whole family will be at Benchmark International Arena to watch the Lightning play at home.

When the Lightning learned John was ready for his first game, the team arranged a private suite for his family Thursday night. Nicole says she got the call this morning and was in shock.

"Honestly, when she called me, I didn't have words," she said. "I'm kind of speechless and I'm not someone who's ever speechless."

It's a dream come true for John and his family, who didn't know if this would ever be possible.