Lauren Hill: Rest in Peace
By Dave Andrusko
Lauren Hill has died. The 19-year-old Mount St. Joseph student, who
fulfilled her dream of playing in a college basketball game in spite of a
viciously aggressive brain cancer, inspired millions with her “never
give up” attitude.
She sure inspired me.
Brooke Desserich, the co-founder of Lauren’s nonprofit foundation, The Cure Starts Now, told The Associated Press that Lauren passed away this morning. Thanks to Lauren’s unflappable courage, more than $1.5 million was raised for research.
As NRL News Today readers know, as a high school senior, Lauren was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. This very rare brain tumor is inoperable, but even chemotherapy treatments could not prevent Lauren from playing on her high school team.
Working with AP reporter Joe Kay, Dan Benjamin, her college coach, wrote a tribute published two days ago.
Let me zone in two statements of a man who, like so many of us, was profoundly affected by Lauren’s grace under pressure.
First, “Why has her story caught on?”
Second, Benjamin reflected on the prognosis, which was that Lauren
would only survive until Christmas. “But that’s Lauren.” Benjamin wrote.
“She’s not going to let it beat her. She beat the first deadline, and
now she’s just going to keep fighting.” He went on
What struck me was how Lauren brought the best out in people. By the
time the season had started last fall for Mount St. Joseph’s, her
condition was rapidly deteriorating. Their opponent in the first game
agreed to move the game up and the NCAA agreed.
As the New York Daily News wrote
I watched replays of the game’s first and last baskets in tears. As Kay wrote
As Lauren told Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer last December
Lauren Hill with Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt. Lauren received the Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award.
She sure inspired me.
Brooke Desserich, the co-founder of Lauren’s nonprofit foundation, The Cure Starts Now, told The Associated Press that Lauren passed away this morning. Thanks to Lauren’s unflappable courage, more than $1.5 million was raised for research.
As NRL News Today readers know, as a high school senior, Lauren was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. This very rare brain tumor is inoperable, but even chemotherapy treatments could not prevent Lauren from playing on her high school team.
Working with AP reporter Joe Kay, Dan Benjamin, her college coach, wrote a tribute published two days ago.
Let me zone in two statements of a man who, like so many of us, was profoundly affected by Lauren’s grace under pressure.
First, “Why has her story caught on?”
I think it’s her spirit, her
personality. You’ve got to be around her. I keep telling people that
once you get around her, you’ll know what I mean. It’s hard to describe,
but it’s a spirit of never giving up.
When she walks into a room, the
room lights up. And that happened even before it went public and she got
all the attention. Also, she’s unselfish and caring about everybody
else. She’s worried about her family, about these young kids who are not
going to get the chance to grow up and do what she did playing
basketball or soccer or whatever it is because of DIPG.
I describe it as bittersweet.
Watching her go through the journey has been tough, knowing that she’s
getting weaker, knowing that she needs us even more now.
In my mind, there’s no doubt that
God put me in her life and her in my life for a reason. I’m just
thankful that I’ve gotten to play a small part in helping her do such a
big thing for the future of DIPG (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma)
research. I keep thinking I’ve got to be there for her and her mission,
which is carrying on the research to find a cure.
As the New York Daily News wrote
Her first game became such an
event in the Cincinnati area that MSJ’s Division III gym couldn’t
accommodate all of the fans. The game was moved to Xavier University’s
10,000-seat arena — tickets sold out in less than an hour. …Hill was
awarded the Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award that day, an honor
normally handed out at the Final Four but was bestowed upon Hill before
the season’s first game.
By the time the game came around
on Nov. 2, the tumor had affected Hill’s right side so much that she had
to shoot with her non-dominant hand. With Tennessee women’s coach Pat
Summitt and an impressive cast of WNBA players on hand, Hill took a pass
and made a left-handed layup only 17 seconds into the game.
Tears. Goosebumps. Applause.
She also made the last basket of the game, returning for a right-handed layup this time.
One other thought. I am the father of three adult women, so Lauren’s
story has hit me particularly hard. But I was deeply moved by how the
disease drew Lauren even closer to her family and to her faith. Kay
wrote
While the tumor squeezed her brain, Hill squeezed back, holding onto life as tightly as she could.
“I’m spreading awareness and also
teaching people how to live in the moment because the next moment’s not
promised,” Hill told the AP after one of her team’s 6 a.m. practices. “Anything can happen at any given moment. What matters is right now.
“Especially after this kind of diagnosis, your perspective on life and what you value changes.”
For Hill, that meant spending
time with her parents and a brother and sister, going to college,
raising money for cancer research, inspiring others, and achieving her
goal of scoring a basket in a game.
Last January, I said to God I’ll
do anything to be a voice for this cancer and all the kids that can’t
speak their symptoms. Parents are left baffled, because they don’t know
what’s wrong with their kids. (Kids) can’t express what’s happening to
them. I prayed I’d be the voice and that I’d do anything that gave me an
opportunity to raise awareness and raise research money.
That was a couple months after
diagnosis. The first couple months I was angry. Why does this happen to
me? Why does it happen to anybody? I believe God has the last say. And I
feel like I’ve accomplished what I intended.
Rest in peace, Lauren.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment