It was a dream come true. In a suite at Madison Square Garden, 15-year-old Matthew Von Dollen was watching the Rangers game with his parents, siblings, cousins and his friend Mark.
Matthew had met Mark in person for the first time just hours earlier, but he felt like he had known him for ages. Throughout a childhood battle with a debilitating seizure disorder — including 11 brain surgeries to attempt to locate and remove the disorder’s source, and countless sleepless hours waiting for the pain of a seizure to subside or worrying when the next one would arrive — Mark had been his constant companion.
When Matthew was in a bad way, Mark scored a hat trick, that’s how it seemed. When Matthew and his family considered another brain operation in 2002, Mark had shoulder surgery, and it seemed like a sign. When the NHL lockout took the comfort of live hockey off the television, Mark appeared on old videos, leading Matthew’s beloved Blueshirts to the Stanley Cup.
So when the time came for Matthew to receive a wish through the Make-A-Wish Foundation in 2007, it came as no surprise to those close to him that Matt wanted to attend a Rangers game with his hockey hero, Mark Messier.
And because of the Garden of Dreams, which partnered with Make-A-Wish, Matthew’s wish was granted — and then some. Matthew’s wish weekend took him first to meet the Rangers after a practice, where he was delighted to find that he stood taller than center Scott Gomez, and he collected a signed Sean Avery jersey that now hangs above his bed. Then it was a Knicks shootaround and a private preview of the Rockettes show at Radio City Music Hall.
“Every time I talk about it, it’s something new, something you forgot to say,” said Matthew’s mother, Kathy Von Dollen. “It really was unbelievable. It was actually magical. That was the only way to describe it.”
The highlight for Matthew was the emotional meeting with Messier, the Hall of Famer and former Rangers captain, who took the family on a tour of the Garden and conducted a mock interview with Matthew before the game.
“It felt pretty cool,” said Matthew, now 17 and a high school junior. “And it was really neat to interview him. Got a couple good laughs.”
Matthew maintains a remarkable capacity for laughter, despite his daily struggle with seizures. When they come in clusters, the assault leaves him completely exhausted.
“They’re a great way to get out of school,” Matthew said with deadpan delivery.
The family continues to search for remedies that will at least make the seizures less severe or more predictable. They are considering getting Matthew a service dog to help detect oncoming seizures, and, ever the hockey fan, he has names picked out: “Stanley for Stanley Cup if it’s a boy and Madison for Madison Square Garden if it’s a girl.”
Matthew has been stopped more than once — at school, at the diner, by strangers — who recognize him as Messier’s pal. And the entire Rangers family has welcomed Matthew with open arms. At a recent practice for his disabled hockey league team, a coach was surprised to see that Matthew’s skating turns had improved dramatically. Matthew explained that he had picked up some pointers from Adam. Adam Graves, that is.
“We keep saying it’s the wish that never ends,” Kathy said.
It lives on in Matthew’s memory and lights up his darker moments. And it lives on in his enduring bond with Messier, who said his interactions with the Von Dollens have been inspiring.
“He’s got a lot of passion. He’s got a lot of life in him. What he’s been through, it might have kind of derailed his zest for things, but he just seems to be clicking along and having a good time and enjoying himself,” said Messier, now an assistant to the president of the Rangers. “It certainly resonates loudly when a kid, a family, has gone through what they have, and one of the things they’d really like to do is come watch a Ranger game and spend the night with you.”
Matthew and Messier will be at the Garden on Monday night to accept the prestigious Chris Greicius Celebrity Award from Make-A-Wish on behalf of Garden of Dreams, which arranges charity work with kids in crisis for all of the Garden’s teams and properties. They are a shining example of the uplifting connection that can develop between an ailing young man and his sports hero.
“To us, it’s a huge deal,” Kathy said. “This is what gets him through.”
jlehman@nypost.com