Brad Paisley Tips His Hat to Oklahoma Teen Battling Cancer

Cancer-stricken teen Kenya Potthier was eagerly looking forward to seeing Brad Paisley and Darius Rucker in concert at Tulsa Oklahoma's BOK center last Saturday, November 27, with her best friend, Sierra. Kenya -- who had been diagnosed with osteosarcoma cancer in September -- had already undergone one round of chemotherapy, with Sierra standing loyally by her side.

Before round two started, the two 7th graders were looking forward with excitement to Brad's show. But when Kenya's blood count came back low, she was told she couldn't go. Kenya was crushed. Sierra ended up going anyway, but not without first making a sign for her best friend that she desperately hoped would catch Brad's eye.

"It had a picture of Kenya, and it said 'Cancer Sucks and Brad and Darius Rock,'" Sierra told Oklahoma's News on 6. "And it had a little story that said 13-year-old Kenya wanted to be here. Could you sign something for her?"

After Sierra was moved to the front row during the show, her sign caught Brad's eye. The superstar immediately swept off his signature white Stetson and handed it down to Sierra.

"He said, 'Give the hat to her,'" Sierra says. "And I'm like, 'OK!'"

But giving the hat off his head wasn't enough for Brad. After the show, the singer sent his staff out to retrieve his Stetson so he could autograph it for Kenya. He sent back another hat along with it, autographed especially for Sierra. Naturally, when Sierra called Kenya after the show to let her know what had transpired, she was bubbling over with excitement.

"She called and said, 'You are never going to believe this, but Brad Paisley took the hat off his head and signed it for you!'" Kenya recalls. "All night we were shaking ... I couldn't sleep!

"On the inside, it says, "Especially made for Brad Paisley -- it's a Stetson hat," Kenya continues. "It smells like Brad Paisley! We sat there for a good 15 minutes and talked about just that. That it smelled like Brad Paisley!"

Kenya will undergo 11 more months of chemo treatments, with her second round starting next week. Donations to help Kenya battle her cancer can be made to the Rogers County Bank in Claremore, Okla.

Brad, who currently reigns as CMA Entertainer of the Year, finished out his final H2O World Tour show of 2010 last weekend in Tulsa by bringing 1973 Entertainer of the Year Roy Clark onstage to rip through an instrumental version of the classic, '(Ghost) Riders in the Sky.'

"I learned how to play guitar with a Roy Clark songbook, so I blame all this on him," Brad told the sold-out crowd.

Brad will kick off the final leg of the H2O World Tour (rechristened the H20 Frozen Over tour) on January 20, 2011 in Green Bay, Wis. Joining Brad will be Darius Rucker and Jerrod Niemann. January 20, 2011.