(CBS) — A boy from the North Shore has skated dozens of miles to raise awareness about a potentially deadly illness.

It all began with the dream of Nick Curley, an 8-year-old mite hockey player for the Glenview Stars. He wanted to raise awareness about epilepsy because his cousin battles it.

His goal: skate 100 miles.

One thing helps. “Skating is my favorite thing to do,” says Nick, who has skated five miles in each of 20 Chicago area rinks.

The huge project started with the Blackhawks’ minor-league affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. Then, in rink after rink all over northern Illinois, Nick skated and skated and skated. Even Blackhawks legend Denis Savard took a spin with him.

To date, Nick has raised more than $21,000 for the Danny Did Foundation, which Tom Stanton runs. His nephew Danny Stanton died after an epileptic seizure three years ago.

“He said, ‘I wanted to do something to help other people and I wanted to have fun,’” Tom Stanton says of Nick. “It’s such a simple concept, and i think any adult could learn from it.”

Because Nick is a defenseman, he likes to skate a majority of the time backwards. He says the one thing he hasn’t been as thrilled about is the attention that comes from fund-raising.

“The part of helping other people out it feels good, but being famous — trust me, you don’t want to be famous,” he tells CBS 2’s Rob Johnson.

Says his father, Brian Curley: “He’s found he doesn’t like to be on TV. I said it won’t last forever.”

If you’d like to learn more about the Danny Did Foundation, click here.