ASHEVILLE, Ohio — Jackson Mace was born with hardly any oxygen. He had to have a kidney transplant and is now immunocompromised which limits the sports he can play.

His father, Chris Mace, gave him a kidney so he could live.

“Here’s a kid that has the desire to do the same thing as an average kid, doesn’t really get to, but the way these kids have really let him join the team from the sideline it’s been well worth giving him a kidney not only for his life but to see him smiling,” said Chris Mace.

Teays Valley football players have a special bond with Mace.

“I’m really good friends with them. It felt like I really had no friends and then these kids came in,” said Jackson Mace.

Some of them, like Cavin McDowell, have known Mace since kindergarten.

“It really just makes us play harder knowing that someone there has so much confidence in us because he can’t do it himself, so we really just play for him most of the time,” McDowell said.

Jackson Mace can attest. These players are like his brothers.

“I feel like I’ve made them play harder,” Jackson Mace said.

“It’s kind of grown into a brotherhood. You play for him. You want to see him succeed as much as much as you want yourself to succeed,” said Markus Mealy, a Teays Valley High School senior.

Mace’s parents said it’s special to see their son surrounded by teammates that are there for their son.

“To see these kids rallying around him and literally shedding tears because of the joy that you see on his face, knowing that he has all these guys as his brothers,” Chris Mace said.