Turn to the Inspiration Department and you will be hard pressed to find anybody more inspiring than the tandem of little Leah Still and her super-sized dad, Devon.
Leah, many know, is the diminutive darling attempting to win the fight against cancer, specifically 4th stage neuroblastoma. She’s undergone chemotherapy and surgery to shrink and remove the cancer, respectively, and is in stasis as more chemo and stem cell therapy go forward.
The father of this smiling, positive, 4-year-old, is Devon Still. He played collegiately at Penn State, and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals with the 53rd overall pick in 2012. He is a defensive tackle, and anything but diminutive, at 6-foot 5-inches, 310 pounds.
Leah’s cancer was discovered June 2 this year, after she complained of pain in her hip during a dance recital. That diagnosis changed everything. The prognosis was 50-50 that Leah would survive. Dad Devon had to explain all this to his daughter. And he had to rally her to face the disease and “do whatever she could to beat it.”
“She’s a fighter,” Still said, and he added that as a parent you expect your child to look up to you. In Leah’s case, the dad found himself looking up to his tiny daughter, and her can-do determination to overcome the nightmare of pediatric cancer.
Leah Still’s condition has sparked national attention, and much more. Devon Still’s NFL status has produced a remarkable chain of events—and money—in the fight against pediatric cancer. For starters, the Bengal franchise kept Still on the team’s healthcare insurance as he focused on Leah more than football. Also, the Bengals pledged all proceeds from the sale of Still’s #75 jersey to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (to date netting over $1 million).
Sean Payton, head coach of the New Orleans Saints, personally bought 100 of the jerseys in an act of support. Patriots’ owner, Robert Kraft, donated $25,000 to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, as well as having the Patriot cheerleaders don Still jerseys during the Sunday Night Football game with the Bengals. Other players and teams have contributed as well. And Ellen DeGeneres featured Devon on her TV variety show, Ellen, in late October, giving him a $10,000 check for the fight against pediatric cancer.
At this writing, prospects look bright for both Leah and her dad. The hope is that Leah is cancer-free and will stay that way. And dad Devon has been taken from the Bengals practice squad and elevated to the 53-man roster of the team. He has played in recent games, and is very probably looking at football from a different perspective these days. The game has to be easier than facing up to and beating pediatric cancer. Key Magazine salutes Leah, Devon, and all who have stepped up to help in the fight against the disease.