Ten-year-old Luke Remington is a big St. Louis Cardinals fan.

His favorite Cardinals are Albert Pujols and Ozzie Smith. He especially enjoys rooting for his team when they play the Cubs, which can be quite interesting because his 13-year-old brother, Brendan, is a Cubs fan.

Designers used that love for the Cardinals as a theme when they created a T-shirt that will be sold to help pay Luke's medical bills.

A fourth-grader at St. Malachy School, Rantoul, Luke has leukemia and is need of a bone marrow transplant.

The red shirts will be emblazoned with the words "Luke's League" and a baseball bat. Instead of the trademark cardinal, the image of a boy with Luke's face will sit on the bat.

The shirts will be for sale at St. Malachy and at Fisher Grade School, where Luke's mother, Erin, teaches fifth grade.

"We're selling the T-shirts through our students at the grade school ... and at the high school through former students of Mrs. Remington," said Jim Moxley, Fisher Grade School principal.

St. Malachy Principal Jim Flaherty said the shirts cost $10 for children's sizes and $15 for adult sizes.

To contribute, send money either to St. Malachy or Fisher Grade School. Write the check to Fisher Grade School and indicate "Luke's League" on the memo line.

"I know he's got a lot of friends from his school and his church that are interested in supporting him," Moxley said.

In addition to the T-shirt sale, Fisher Grade School students will conduct a walkathon this spring with proceeds to go to the Remington family.

The youngster is a patient at Comer Children's Hospital in Chicago.

In a telephone interview, Luke said math is his favorite subject and grammar his least favorite.

Besides baseball, he likes playing football and going fishing.

Doctors diagnosed Luke's illness in March 2008 after he developed flulike symptoms and then a rash, according to his father, Brian.

He was flown by helicopter to St. Louis Children's Hospital when a blood test revealed a highly elevated white blood cell count.

Luke suffers from the acute lymphoblastic form of leukemia.

Treatments in St. Louis included chemotherapy, radiation, spinal taps and lumbar punctures in which chemo is placed in the spine.

After he suffered a relapse in November, doctors said he needed a bone marrow transplant.

He was moved to Comer Children's Hospital because it is closer to home.

Brian Remington said his son has been handling things "pretty well. He gets sick. He tries to keep up on things."

Luke has not been allowed to leave the hospital the last three weeks because he came down with an infection.

"They're trying to clean that up," Brian Remington said.

After the diagnosis, initial treatments in St. Louis lasted a month, then once a week. Remington said treatments eventually became less frequent.

He came down with a bacterial infection in the summer of 2008 and was in intensive care for about five weeks followed by another month in a regular care room at the St. Louis hospital.

"He had to learn how to walk, talk and eat again," his father said. Having been on his back for so long with only fluids to sustain him allowed his muscles to atrophy.

"He had to reteach himself how to swallow and get his muscles back," Brian Remington said. "It took quite awhile. There was a lot of physical therapy.

"He's been through quite a bit."

Luke suffered compartment syndrome, making it necessary to remove his colon. Compartment syndrome is the compression of nerves and blood vessels within an enclosed space.

That compression leads to muscle and nerve damage and problems with blood flow.

Brian and Erin Remington have had to take a great deal of time off work to be with their son. Brian is employed at Kraft Foods in Champaign.

Now, they must wait until a suitable bone marrow donor is found.

A transplant could occur in mid- to late February if a match can be found, he said.