Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN/WGR 550) - The Buffalo Bills organization was rocked on Thursday to learn of the sudden passing of Luke Knox, younger brother of Dawson Knox on Wednesday at the age of 22.
"Our hearts go out to Dawson and his family during this time," said Bills head coach Sean McDermott when he opened his press conference on Thursday. “We’re right there with him in supporting him and his family. It’s just tragic news that I woke up to this morning.”
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The native of Brentwood, Tennessee was set to play this upcoming season of college football at Florida International University after spending the past three seasons playing for the University of Mississippi, where his older brother had played his collegiate career.
As the Bills and the Knox family mourn the loss of Luke, "Bills Mafia" has stepped up, once again, in an effort to not only show their support for Dawson and his family, but also a great cause that is close and dear to his heart.
Shortly after the tragic news of Luke Knox's death, some Bills fans on social media wanted to figure out a way to honor the life of Dawson's brother, while also supporting a great cause, in classic "Bills Mafia" fashion.
That resulted in Bills fans starting to donate to the P.U.N.T. Pediatric Cancer Collaborative, a non-profit organization that provides support to families in Western New York facing pediatric cancer.
"We are so overwhelmed with gratitude. These are very meaningful resources for us," said Executive Director of P.U.N.T. Pediatric Cancer Collaborative, Gwen Mysiak. "Dawson is extremely involved in our mission, he has been since his rookie year not just as a spokesperson who shows up and signs autographs, but as somebody who really cares and understands what we do and why we do it. There's never been a time we've reached out to him for anything in the three years he's been a Buffalo Bill that he hasn't come to serve in whatever way that he can. I know it's important to him to use his blessings on the field to give back off the field.
"I'm not surprised, knowing the nature of this community, that this is what's happening. We're a grassroots organization that does very direct and impactful work for local families fighting pediatric cancer, so we certainly recognize the opportunity that this means for solidifying our work and mission in the community."
Since the effort started Thursday, donations have been flooding in in various amounts, with the most common amount being $16.88 - 16 and 88 for Luke and Dawson's football numbers, respectively. Mysiak also says there have been a number of beautiful notes of support for the Knox family, which she will be capturing and sharing with the family.
"You can tell that this is really personal for the people that are stepping forward, and just how much they want to impart their support to Dawson and his family," she said.
As of 3 p.m. ET on Friday, donation totals from Bills fans supporting P.U.N.T. Pediatric Cancer Collaborative was up to $121,094 with upwards of 6,000 donations. That donation total eclipsed the $150,000 mark as of Saturday morning.
Mysiak says this will make an incredible difference towards families fighting pediatric cancer in Western New York.
As for what resources these donations will go towards, there are six very distinct programs that P.U.N.T. Pediatric Cancer Collaborative work with the support families in need.
"Everything from helping families pay bills to a bereavement program for families in the wake of a loss to pediatric cancer," Mysiak explained. "We will be getting the feedback of the Knox family, in terms of where they would like to guide these incredible resources to make sure that they have a voice in that. Once we have that plan, we will share that publicly. These won't just get absorbed into our general coffers, we're really going to look to do something legacy-building and special with these donations."
At one point during the donation period, the website for people to donate ended up crashing due to the increased volume of traffic it was experiencing.
"We were averaging [Thursday] about 10 donations per-minute, so it was definitely coming through fast and furiously," Mysiak said. "It was actually a glitch with the way the payments were processing, because that was what was failing. But we got it up-and-running thanks to our web agency, and we haven't had any issues since."
Donations for the P.U.N.T. Pediatric Cancer Collaborative are expected to continue over the coming days in honor of Luke Knox, and people are still being encouraged to contribute and show their love and support for the Knox family.
"You can go right to our homepage at PUNTPediatricCancer.org. There's a donate option, there's a $16.88 option to select within that page, so the way they're coming in is through our website," Mysiak said. "We just want to say that we stand, first-and-foremost, in support of the Knox family as bereaved friends of this amazing family. Nothing about this is transactional to us. We're extremely honored to be part of Luke's legacy, we stand in sorrow that we're having this conversation for this reason, but we know how much it means to the family to serve and what our mission means. So this is just an incredibly meaningful moment, but our hearts are with them as friends."
***Photo: P.U.N.T. Pediatric Cancer Collaborative, Inc.