InstagramCincinnati Bengals player, Devon Still hoped to attend the ESPYs award alongside his daughter, Leah Still. The 5-year old has inspired the world with her courageous, resilient fight to overcome cancer. However, Leah wasn't cleared by her doctors to attend the show.
The two will be honored at the ESPYs on Wednesday with the Jimmy V. Perseverance award for fighting Leah's cancer over the past year. Leah is currently in remission from stage-four neuroblastoma. Even though Leah is in remission, she still receives various treatments to get her immune system back to normal.
Devon took to Instagram on Tuesday, posting a group selfie on Instagram of friends and family traveling to Los Angeles saying, "We are short one princess but unfortunately the doctors didn't give her the ok because her immune system is still weak. She told me to hold it down for us on that stage so that's what I'm going to do!" And once the defensive tackle arrived in Los Angeles, he shared the amazing view from his hotel room.
The Jimmy V. Perseverance award was named in honor Jim Valvano, the North Carolina State men's basketball coach who delivered a heart-tugging and emotional speech at the 1993 ESPYs award during his own fight with cancer. Valvano received the Arthur Ashe Courage award that evening.
Valvano inspired many in his speech saying, "To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. No. 1 is laugh. You should laugh every day. No. 2 is think. You should spend some time in thought. No. 3 is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special."