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Soccer benefit Saturday for boy who died from nut allergy

Posted at 7:13 PM, Dec 09, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-09 19:14:48-05

We have more for you on the West Palm Beach family who lost their 11-year old son to a nut allergy.

This story tugged at so many of you when we first told you about it the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Now the family is gearing up for a benefit soccer tournament this weekend.

After our story aired, the Debbs family received an overwhelming response from around the country.

Over Thanksgiving, their son, Oakley, died after accidentally eating a cake with nuts in it. In his memory, his family created the Red Sneakers Foundation, named after the red sneakers Oakley always wore while playing sports. They hope the foundation will help raise awareness on the dangers of nut allergies.

The family's message and tragedy spread through a social media firestorm. They received countless photos of people across the country wearing red sneakers in support of Oakley.

"I've had parents reach out to me and thank me, saying because of this message they actually changed their peanut plan... And they think it may have changed their child's life," said Merrill Debbs, Oakley's mother.

Last weekend, crews from the TODAY show were in West Palm Beach to film a story with the Debbs family. The segment aired on Tuesday morning on Hoda & Kathy Lee.

The benefit soccer game for Oakley is set for Saturday from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. at the Palm Beach Recreation Center on 340 Seaview Avenue in Palm Beach.

To register your child, just go to www.redsneaker.org. Please wear all white attire with red sneakers or cleats in honor of Oakley on game day.

You can email LivLikeOaks@gmail.com to register your child.