HS football team gets 'smelly' for a good cause

CAMDEN, N.J. (WPVI) -- Members of a South Jersey football team got a little smelly but for a good reason - to help a young boy battling a debilitating disease.

Meet 6-year-old Henry Norton of Pennsauken, New Jersey.

He looks like any other normal kid except that he has something that virtually no one has ever heard of: Usher's Syndrome.

"Some children are born deaf and lose their vision as in Henry's case and some children are born deaf and blind," said Kim Norton, mom.

Henry has lost 90 percent of his vision since February 2013. Fortunately thanks to two cochlear implants, he is able to hear.

"It's an amazing innovation. You can make the deaf hear, should they choose to and we did, and Henry is gonna rely on his hearing more and more because as his vision diminishes further and further, he'll be able to hear which is the difference," said Norton.

Doctors tell the family that there is no known cure for the genetic disorder.

For the football team at Camden Catholic High School, that just reeks and they wanted to do something to bring attention to Usher's Syndrome and Henry's plight.

On Friday night, they had a tailgate party for him before their game against Bishop Eustace High School.

They wore red because it's easier for Henry to see.

In fact, the team members had been wearing red t-shirts to practice, which they hadn't washed all week. By Friday, they too reeked.

"The main point is that, at the end of the week, we can take these shirts off and we can wash them and we can shower and we'll be fine, but at the end of the day, Henry will always be blind and deaf and it reeks," said Matt Wright, player.

Before the game on Friday, team members faced Henry and gave him the sign language symbol for 'I love you' which he heartily returned to cheers.

With all the tragedies and crime going on in the world, this compassionate gesture shows that there are plenty of people still doing good things.