Cincinnati, OH, USA — Her name had become
synonymous with the social media hashtag #StillStrong, and that would
be an accurate description of the resolve of 5-year-old Leah Still.
Still had been diagnosed with Stage-4 neuroblastoma in June of last
year. At one point, cancer had penetrated her bones and she was given a
50/50 chance of survival. After a year and-a-half of treatment, however,
the little girl has been declared cancer-free.
Leah’s father, former Cincinnati Bengal
defensive lineman Devon Still, announced Wednesday that his daughter was
in remission. The doting dad posted an Instagram message to followers:
“Thanks for all the support and prayers! Just got the phone call that
her scans showed NED (no evidence of disease)!”
In July, Leah and her father received an
ESPY award for perseverance. Since Leah had been undergoing treatment
and could not attend the televised awards ceremony, her father accepted
the trophy, rendering a heartfelt speech.
“I know you wish you could be here, but I know you’re watching,” said Still. “I just want to thank you. From the moment you [were] born, you molded me into the man I am today. I always used to dream about how I was going to be able to show you so much about life, but in the five years I’ve been with you, you’ve taught me more about life than I could ever do.”
Still presented the trophy to his
daughter the following day, posting a photo of Leah posing with their
award on social site Sqor Sports, along with the message: “This EPSY
might have both of our names on it but this is Leah’s trophy! Like I
said last night, what I do is easy, she has the hard job. Like a true
fighter she showed true perseverance throughout her battle with cancer
and I couldn’t be any prouder. #leahstrong.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment