Rockwall boy featured on Harry Connick Jr. talk show

(ROCKWALL, TX — January 19, 2018) Eleven-year-old Gage Duke of Rockwall, founder of nonprofit Just Cuz Helmets Matter, will roll out his message on bike safety on television screens across the country when he’s featured on Harry Connick Jr.’s talk show “Harry” on Jan. 22. The show will air on Monday at 2 p.m. on Fox 4.

Gage was chosen out of hundreds of kids making positive impacts in their communities to come on the show and talk about his organization, which promotes bicycle safety education and provides regulation bicycle helmets to any student that cannot afford to buy one.

“Being on an actual stage with all those lights and cameras, an entire band… it was incredibly nerve-wracking but really cool at the same time,” Gage said. “I was pretty nervous but then it got easier while I was up there talking to Harry. He was just a really nice person.”

Gage Duke illustrates the proper way to wear a helmet while chatting with Harry Connick Jr. on his talk show, “Harry”.

Gage’s mom Laine Duke said the experience was made even more special by how kind Connick Jr. and the staff of Harry TV were to their family.

“We can’t say enough about the kindness, generosity, and hospitality shown to us by the team at Harry TV,” Laine said. “It’s nice that they showcase the organization, but the reality that they just helped us promote bike safety on national tv, teach countless others to use a helmet and possibly save a life? We are so grateful.”

Gage founded Just Cuz Helmets Matter after his 15-year-old cousin Allen Hall was killed in 2012, when he was unintentionally struck by a vehicle while biking to school without a helmet.

To promote bike safety and the importance of wearing a helmet every time you ride, Gage and his organization host an annual bike rodeo event at Stevenson Elementary where he goes to school. The first bike rodeo was held in 2015 and was attended by over 200 students and parents, who received bags with information on bike safety and had their helmets checked for proper fit. Gage also handed out free helmets to those who couldn’t afford their own.

Gage said he’s currently in the process of developing a new program that will provide helmets to all schools within Rockwall ISD. To aid Gage in this mission, Harry TV donated 500 bicycle helmets to Just Cuz Helmets Matter, which Gage plans to hand out at the next bike rodeo on May 5 at Stevenson Elementary.

“It’s beyond amazing,” said Gage’s dad Damon Duke. “You see your child and in your mind, he’s still so little, and yet he’s doing this huge thing for the betterment of other people. He’s not doing it for his own accolades, he’s doing it to help others. As a parent, you can’t ask for anything better than that.”

For more information about Gage’s organization or to make a donation, visit justcuzhelmetsmatter.org/.

By Austin Wells, Blue Ribbon News. Photos by Bridgette Graham, NBCUniversal.

Our monthly print edition is delivered free to ~20,000 homes in Rockwall and Heath, TX.