This story brought tears to my eyes [ht JAB]:
Devon Still, a defensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals, had his life change forever when on June 2 his four-year-old daughter, Leah, was diagnosed with stage-4 neuroblastoma cancer.
As you can imagine, Still wasn’t able to devote 100% to football as he cared for his daughter and the Bengals were forced to cut him from the team’s final 53-man roster. But that’s not how the story ended. . .
Bengals sign player to practice squad to help him pay for daughter's cancer treatment: abcn.ws/1BdJXQThttp://t.co/sN636UkqwL—
ABC News (@ABC) September 04, 2014Still told ABC News:
“They could have washed their hands with me and said they didn’t care about what I was going through off the field,” Still said. “It’s like a blessing in disguise for me.”
Way to go Bengals!
And way to go Devon Still! You have a long, tough road ahead of you.
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As many long-time readers of EclectEcon will remember, a little over 3 years ago our granddaughter Lara was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma. Because of the amazing care from her parents and from the Anderson Cancer Clinic, Lara is cancer free now. But the first year of treatments was horrendous, and Lara was only 3 when she was diagnosed. Lara is an amazing little six-year-old who, like her parents, has a strength and determination that have stood her well.
Analogous to what happened with Devon Still, my son [Adam Smith Palmer] went to see his dean to explain that he was dropping out of grad school, despite having recently passed all his exams to pursue a PhD in astrophysics, to look after his daughter.
The Dean said [roughly paraphrased], "Don't drop out now. Wait until September. The university's health plan is much better than the one your wife has, and it will cover your daughter for another year."
Not the same as what the Bengals did, but similar.