When my mom was 14 she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, a type of cancer.
As a freshman in high school she had to go through chemotherapy, radiation,
surgeries - she had to lose her hair. When I was 10, actually on my tenth birthday, my
mom got the news that her cancer came back, this time as breast cancer. I
can still remember my mom and my dad calling my family together to break the
news to us. My mom was crying, my dad was crying, it made us all cry. My mom went on to
take down that battle of cancer, we actually had this big ole party at my
house to celebrate. But cancer wasn't done giving up its' fight. A year later
she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. She took that down, then a year
later she was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer. At the time of that last
diagnosis I was 12 and I didn't understand the word terminal, that that
battle was going to end up take her life. You see, over a couple years
it became normal watching my mom fight cancer. I thought that this was just
another battle of cancer that she was going to take down because that's what my
mom did. But on August 4th, right before my freshman year of high school my mom
did pass away. I held her hand as she took her last breaths. Family all around
in that small hospital room, feeling numb, like we're all living some nightmare. I
hadn't even gotten into high school and I had to go to my mom's funeral.
Weeks passed and I was lost. I'd be playing football and I'd make a big play then I'd
look up to the stands and see the seat next my dad's empty, my mom wasn't there.
At that moment, I instantly sat back and began reflecting on my mom's life -
the legacy that she left behind and the way that she helped people. You see, I
think my mom realized from battling cancer as a kid that life's short. She
learned what it meant to live and how important was to make a difference in
other people's lives and to make the most of her life on earth. Those were all
things that my mom instilled in me growing up. It wasn't long before I
decided to create a Twitter account. So when I was 12 years old I created
this account and I called it Athlete Nation. The reason I called it
Athlete Nation was because growing up playing sports was a way of life for me
and I saw the connection between sports and life. So when I created this
account as a 12-year-old I began putting out these inspirational messages that
related to both sports and life - things that I hoped would encourage people and
pick them up. What I didn't expect was the way that the account took off 'cause
within a month I had 10,000 followers. Now fast forward six years, now Athlete
Nation is a sports media company that's dedicated to empowering athletes, coaches,
and sports fans to change the world for the better through social media. Athlete
Nation has 70,000 followers, has had tweets go viral, and reaches over 5
million people every month. You all have the power to inspire and to change
people's lives. It doesn't matter who you are.
It recently became four years since my mom passed away and I'd give anything to
have her back. I would. But not having her around has taught me that life's short,
that I have to make the most of my life. That every day I have to help people,
that every day I have to inspire people, that every day I have to empower people.
You can do the same. You all can do the same.
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