Terminally Ill Basketball Player Set to Lace Up For One Final Game
On Sunday Nov. 2, 19-year old Lauren Hill will lace up to play her first and last collegiate basketball game. On her 18th, birthday Lauren committed to playing basketball at Mount Saint Joseph’s in Cincinnati. Although fall of her senior year Lauren was not playing to the best of her abilities, soon after she was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Like most athletes, the game that Lauren played held a major role in her life. The first question she asked after the diagnosis was “Can I still play?”
Her exact diagnosis was DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma), which is a brain cancer that’s predominately found in children. With this diagnosis Lauren was given a life expectancy of at least two years, although recent brain scans have shown differently. Her tumor has grown increasingly and her life expectancy has been changed to this coming December.
Lauren’s love for the sport she excelled in has never been stronger. She stated in a recent interview, “I could be gone tomorrow or I could be here for another year. Why stop? Why give up on your life?” This belief and her immense courage is what will bring the Mount Saint Joseph’s women’s basketball team to the Cintas Center at Xavier University to play their season opener.
The regular NCAA rule is that games are not to be started until mid November, an exemption was granted for the game to be moved this past week. Lauren may not be the stand out star on the court Nov. 2, but she will be the M.V.P in everyone’s hearts.
