Devon Still's5-year-old daughter Leah Still is officially cancer-free! The NFL defensive tackle for the Houston Texans sharedthe happy news on social media on Monday.
Tweeting from the hospital he wrote, “She really beat cancer! Beyond thankful for all thesupport y’all showed us.” Devon continued in another tweet,“It’s crazy to sit here in the hospital know that after leah gets dischargedtomorrow we are really done with this chapter in our lives.”
Photo: Getty Images
The joyous announcement comesalmost a year and a half after Leah was first diagnosed with Stage-4neuroblastoma back in 2014. Devon’s daughter underwent her last treatment on Friday.
On Tuesday, on the sports social networksite Sqor, Devon praised his little girl for never giving up during her fight against cancer. He wrote, “With Leah finishingher last treatment last night, I can really say my daughter BEAT CANCER! Wordscan't describe how proud I am of this girl. No matter how hard it got or howpainful the treatments were (and it was pretty bad a lot of the times) shenever gave up!”
The 26-year-old also took theopportunity to thank fans who supported his daughter’s fight on social media, which he documented with the hashtag #LeahStrong. Devon wrote, “Every time wereceived bad news or felt like it was coming to a point were we couldn't fightanymore, I would go to the comments you all wrote cheering us on and it wouldmake us fight so much harder.”
Photo: Twitter/@Dev_Still71
While the dad-of-one admitted that he wasn’t very spiritual prior tothis experience, he credits prayer and faith for helping him get through theordeal. “Drop to your knees everyday and pray. I was never a bigspiritual person but I always believed in God and knew who to turn to in thetime of need,” he said. “Keeping faith that God will see you through doesn'tmake the battle easier but it makes winning possible! It gives you back thehope that is stripped away from you every time you watch your kid endure thepain from the treatments and the bad news you often receive from the doctors.”
At the end of the announcement, Devon attached a photo showing the length of time, which his daughter spent battling cancer. Itread, “41days of chemotherapy, 40 days of antibody therapy, 19 days of radiation, 7hours surgery and 1 win!"
The football player recently signed a contract to "get back to doing" what he loves. He said, "I told myself from day one with Leah's diagnosis I would give her my all and sacrifice my career because if I lost her to cancer I could never get her back but if I lost football, given the right opportunity, I could get it back."
He added, "Thanks to the Texans for giving me that opportunity!"
