On Thursday, Cincinnati Bengals player Devon Still was given a surprise gift by his friend Lauren Hill, a college freshman who plays basketball for Mount Saint Joseph University in Ohio.
Nineteen-year-old Hill, who has terminal brain cancer, presented the football star with the jersey from her first college basketball game, which she played Nov. 2. She scored four points. Hill isn’t expected to live past December.
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Just was surprised after practice by a really good friend, Lauren Hill, and she brought he… http://t.co/7BEtykDM35 pic.twitter.com/didaVQXIPW
— Devon Still (@Dev_Still71) November 20, 2014
Hill and Still first connected in October. Still’s 4-year-old daughter, Leah, is also battling brain cancer.
“She’s a fighter. As a parent, you always expect your child to look up to you. But honestly, since June 2, I’ve really been looking up to my daughter,” Still said in an interview with NBC’s “Today” in October. “She’s way stronger than I ever have been. For her to be able to continue to smile through all this, and continue to still have that same personality, it’s amazing. And it’s definitely inspiring to me.”
Still has been similarly inspired by Hill. He called her strength “beyond inspirational” when they met in October.
A huge amount of money has been raised in Hill’s honor. According to Indystar, Hill has helped bring in $324,000 for cancer research, with funds going to the International DIPG Registry at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
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