Justin Bieber, Maple Leafs make an 8-year-old's dream come true

Eight-year-old Jake Schafer’s day in Toronto began with a trip to SickKids for a round of chemotherapy, part of a routine to fight the cancer that is quickly spreading through his frail body.

Hours later, he was skating with Justin Bieber and half a dozen Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre, curly blonde locks poking out of his helmet as he took shots on Jonas Gustavasson.

“I was getting my equipment on and Justin Bieber came in when I was about to go out on the ice,” Jake said from a hospital bed on Thursday, where he was having another round of treatment.

“He just asked if he could come and skate and I said yes. He got his stick and went and taped it and then he put his skates.”

The outing was arranged by the Children’s Wish Foundation after Jake, who was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma last year, said his dream was to hang out with the Biebs.

Jake was too shy to say much to the pop star, but said he was pleased when Bieber handed him VIP tickets to his Wednesday night show at Massey Hall. Mistletoe is his favourite song.

After Jake appeared onstage at the show — as Bieber presented a giant cardboard check in the amount of $500,000 to the Children’s Wish Foundation, Sunnybrook Hospital and Project Medishare — he unwittingly became the centre of attention.

“All the teenage girls were asking me all these questions,” Jake said. “Is he nice and all that?”

Catherine Schafer, Jake’s mother, said her little boy was tired after the long day of fun, but in good spirits.

“He’s doing okay, but the cancer’s continuing to spread. So this was perfect timing,” said Schafer, who blogs about her son’s fight with cancer at jakesteam.ca.

According to The James Fund for Neuroblastoma Research, neuroblastoma is the fifth most common cancer in childhood, but it is responsible for a disproportionate number of cancer deaths in children.

Backstage before show, Bieber also surprised 10-year-old Jalissa MacLellan and 16-year-old Harvey Stephen — who are also fighting life-threatening illnesses — stopping in to say hello and give them each an autographed guitar.

“They were told that they were getting a Justin Bieber VIP experience, but we didn’t really let on that they’d be able to meet him,” said Paul St. Germain, spokesman for the Children’s Wish Foundation. “We wanted to make it a surprise for them when Justin walked in. And it was.”

The taped Christmas TV special Justin Bieber: Home for the Holidays premiered on MuchMusic and CTV on Thursday night.