Jacob Bush and family honored at football game

PLYMOUTH, Ind.-- On August 4, Jacob Bush and his father, fallen South Bend Firefighter Jeremy Bush were involved in a tragic motorcycle accident, leaving his father dead and Jacob in critical condition.

Jacob now on the road to recovery, and all he wished for his 16th birthday this weekend was to walk across a football field.

“This is going to be his birthday, he gets to walk out onto the field, he got to see his coaches and his buddies and that’s what it’s all about,” Mishawaka Athletic Director Dean Huppert. "To be out here tonight, and to represent Mishawaka to represent his dad, and to represent the football team, that’s pretty cool.”

To make his wish come true, Plymouth and Mishawaka high schools teamed up with the south bend fire department.

Right before the game started, Jacob along with his family members walked onto the field surrounded by his football team and cheers of support.

“If you think about a night like tonight and watching him just walk out there, and to know that he could be out there running around playing football but he walked out there,” Huppert said. “That’s the community coming together and thinking about what do you need, not what’s in it for us, but they’re helping out a family and they’re helping out a community and that’s what high school sports should be like.”

T-shirts marked with #JacobStrong were made and worn by both Mishawaka football players and cheerleaders in support of Jacob. Those shirts also were being sold to help raise money for the Bush family.

Mishawaka Athletic Director Dean Huppert said that Jacob is a remarkable student and football player, and that he is proud of the community coming together to give him a night he will always remember.

“I ask him, I said Jacob what do you miss most and he said just the sounds and the feel of high school football,” Huppert said. “He misses that, tonight he got to experience that and we’re proud of him and we’re proud of the family and the spirit and the fight for him to be able to not walk with a walker tonight, but just walk out onto that field. That’s a huge step.”

The GoFundMe account to help raise money for the family is still up for anyone who wants to help support.