Islanders Matthew Schaefer honors late mom with support room to help comfort families dealing with cancer
Jon Ledecky marvels that Matthew Schaefer is a better person than he is a hockey player, which the Islanders’ co-owner acknowledges is “saying an awful lot” about the reigning NHL Calder Trophy winner. The second-year defenseman spent his off day Monday with family members at the R.J.Zuckerberg Cancer Center at the Northwell Health Center for Advanced Medicine in Lake Success to dedicate the Jennifer Schaefer Child Support Room in honor of his mother, who died of breast cancer in 2024. The hockey-themed room will provide comfort, support and moments of joy for children while their parent or caregiver undergoes cancer treatment. “I know my mom is smiling down today,” the 19-year-old Schaefer said.
“This mean so much to my dad [Todd], my brother [Johnny] and especially to my mom. “This room is going to be so special.It’s going to help so many families and so many kids.
I know when my mom was going through cancer, we wished we could have had a room where me, my brother and my dad could go to get a breath of fresh air.I think I’m going to be there just as much as [these families] are.” Schaeffer played a game of bubble hockey — and lost — earlier Monday in the support room with 15-year-old L.J.
London, whose mother Tenika Isaacs, a teacher, recently rang the bell for completing her chemotherapy and radiation treatments for breast cancer, which is now in remission. “As a parent, an educator and someone who has now faced breast cancer, I know firsthand that when a parent receives a diagnosis, the entire family feels its impact,” Isaacs said.“That is why the Jennifer Schaefer Child Support Center is so important. “This space represents more than child care.
It represents emotional support, compassion, connection and recognition that our children need care and reassurance throughout this journey, too.” Schaefer also presented L.J.with a ladybug bracelet in honor of their mothers.
Soon after his mother died, a ladybug landed on ...