Before cancer stilled him, Leo Stevenson was the kind of kid who never seemed to come to a full stop.
He was competitive, chatty and most content with a football in his grip. He was a brash blur on the field, adored his hometown Jaguars and never declined attention.
“Leo was special,” his mother, Jessica Stevenson, told The Citizen. “He was just a lively, bright kid.”
The Jacksonville Sharks hosted Leo at a game before his passing.
Jacksonville Sharks part owner Nick Furris, left and Leo, right.
Nearly a year after his death, Leo’s spirit is behind a new youth football camp hosted by the Jacksonville Sharks and former Jaguars players to raise money for research into less toxic childhood cancer treatments.
Scheduled for June 19 at Jax Beach Pop Warner Field, the event is being organized by Jacksonville Sharks part owner Nick Furris, a longtime friend of Leo’s family through St. Johns Greek Orthodox Church.
Former Jaguars standout Jimmy Smith, longtime safety Donovin Darius, and Sharks head coach Jason Gibson are expected to participate, among many others.
“You meet a lot of people in life, but every once in a while there’s a kid that just sticks with you,” Furris said. “Leo had that personality. He had energy. He had toughness. Everybody who met him remembered him.”
The camp will raise money for Fourth & Gold, a Jacksonville nonprofit focused on funding research into less debilitating treatments for childhood cancer.
Fourth & Gold was founded by registered nurse Erin Tracy, who has worked in oncology since 2013.
Oncology nurse Eric Tracy.
Leo and his family.
After years at the bedside treating children like Leo, she launched the organization in 2020 to challenge what she saw as outdated, overly harsh treatment protocols and to help fund safer alternatives.
Since its founding, Fourth & Gold has contributed more than $576,000 toward research aimed at less toxic, more precise therapies.
“Fourth and Gold means everything to me because I’ve seen the need for better treatment options for kids with cancer—and I’m committed to doing something about it,” Tracy said.
Leo was 11 years old when his parents brought him to the emergency room in November 2023, believing he had a severe case of the flu that simply would not go away.
Doctors discovered B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Within days, his condition deteriorated so rapidly that ICU physicians warned the family they might not leave the hospital with him.
The event will feature former Jaguars and current Sharks.
At first, there was reason for hope. Leo’s diagnosis is considered one of the more treatable childhood cancers, with high survival rates for many children.
But after months of chemotherapy, doctors realized the leukemia wasn’t relenting.
Still, Jessica said, Leo kept pushing forward with a bravery belying his years.
Former Jaguars wideout Jimmy Smith.
“He wanted to get better,” she said. “No matter how hard the treatment was, he was willing to do what he had to do.”
As treatment intensified, the family relocated to Atlanta in the summer of 2024 so Leo could undergo a bone marrow transplant. His younger brother, Nico, became his donor.
Before they left Jacksonville, however, the Sharks gave Leo a glittering night his family still describes as magical.
Longtime Jaguars defensive back Donovin Darius will be participating in the camp.
Through Furris, the organization invited Leo to a Sharks game, named him honorary captain and brought him onto the field and into the locker room with players.
“He absolutely lit up,” Furris said. “For a few hours, he wasn’t a sick kid. He was just Leo.”
Leo’s mom said the experience gave her son something precious during an unimaginably hard season of life.
“He felt like a superstar,” she said. “That night meant everything to him.”
As Leo’s condition worsened during treatment, Sharks players, coaches and fans continued reaching out to the family with gifts, messages and support while the Stevensons spent weeks at his bedside in intensive care units.
Leo and his mom.
After the transplant, Leo’s body began to fail. He died Aug. 19, 2024, 62 days later.
The family says his last tests showed no detectable leukemia.
“As far as we know, the cancer was gone,” Stevenson said quietly. “It was the treatment his body couldn’t survive.”
That reality deepened the family’s commitment to Fourth & Gold and its mission to help fund therapies that may someday spare children from the physical devastation Leo endured.
Furris said the camp is ultimately about preserving Leo’s memory while helping other families facing similar battles.
“If we can honor Leo and at the same time help push forward better treatments for kids, then that’s something meaningful,” he said. “That’s something worth building.”
Not long after Leo first returned home from the hospital, weak and exhausted after weeks in intensive care, he looked quietly out the car window during the drive home.
“Everything looks so much more beautiful,” he told his parents.
It was a moment of clarity from a boy who was seeing the world turn bright again, before leaving it behind.