Sports

Teen Gets Autographed Shoes, Warriors Tickets for New Year's Resolution

The San Francisco teen, who is a black belt at a San Bruno karate studio, won a New Year's resolution contest on Stephen Curry's Facebook page to try to bring some joy to her dying father, who has Lou Gehrig's disease.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry was so impressed by that he wanted to do more than just give her a pair of his autographed Nike basketball shoes.

Tessa, 16, whose family lives in San Francisco and who is a black belt at  in San Bruno and a junior at Mercy High School in Burlingame, entered a Facebook contest Curry launched the day before New Year's Eve.

She shared her story about her dad, Mike Blue, 47, who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease and was given only a year to live. She said she wanted to start the new year off right by winning the shoes for her dad so that he could have a normal day for once and cherish the time he had left with his family and friends.

Find out what's happening in San Brunowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

She won the contest by a significant margin, said Bill Voth, the co-founder of Spiracle Media, which handles Curry's marketing and social media efforts and organized the contest.

Once Curry read her entry and saw San Bruno Patch's story, he decided to invite Tessa to Friday's game against the Indiana Pacers at the Oracle Arena in Oakland.

Find out what's happening in San Brunowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The plan was to give the tickets to Tessa and her dad, but dad couldn't make it. So she went with her mom, and Curry personally gave her the autographed shoes before the game, Voth said.

"That's just the type of person he is," Voth said of Curry.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here