Binge Sports: An Update on Lauren Hill

I continue to be in awe of Lauren Hill.

Welcome to Binge Sports continuing coverage of the incredible and inspiring tale of this courageous young woman. If you’re not aware of who she is, click HERE for a piece I wrote a few weeks back covering Hill as she lived out her dream of playing college basketball, despite having an inoperable brain tumor. The game, played on November 2nd after being moved up a few weeks by the NCAA to accommodate Hill , was supposed to be the first and last game she would ever play. Doctors have told her that she probably won’t live until the end of the year.

Since that day three weeks ago, Lauren Hill’s health has gotten worse. Much to her dismay, she hasn’t been able to practice with her Mount Saint Joseph’s teammates for two weeks. A statement put out by her mother on facebook tells us how awful things have gotten for Lauren:

“Her eyes won’t focus on anything.

She gets really dizzy (vertigo).

Constantly nauseous.

Her whole entire right side from the tip of her hair line to her toes is not functioning the way it should. The right side is very heavy and feels like 2 to 3 times heavier than the left side. She says her whole right side is tingly like when your foot falls asleep and when she uses her right hand it feels like she is touching through a woolly glove. Her muscle movements are not controlled. This makes writing and sometimes walking an issue.

Lots of joint pain from steroids. (She wonders if this is the way arthritis patients feel)

Her neck is really heavy and it hurts to hold her head up. She says riding in a car makes it worse because of all the movement. She can’t turn her head fast from side to side or it makes her dizzy.

Headaches come and go. Sometimes they are so bad it hurts to use her eyes.

She is sensitive to light and sound they can trigger headaches, as well as screen time, texting, computers and TV.

Memory loss is horrible. She often feels clueless and she cannot focus on anything for too long.”

So she can’t ride in a car, sometimes can’t see, deals with constant headaches, can’t remember anything at points, and can barely walk anymore. So what do you think Lauren Hill did on Friday? She got in a car with her parents, younger brother and sister, and took a four-hour trip to join her teammates for a game against Bethany College. But she didn’t just go to watch.

The dream continued as late in the second half, Lauren Hill played in her second college basketball game. Summoning all the strength she could muster, number 22 lined up on the right side and as the ball was in-bounded, she cut across the lane as fast as she could to take a bounce pass in the post, and amazingly used her right hand to put up a shot. As the shot went in, she fell to the ground having used most of the energy I’m sure she had. She was immediately helped up as those in attendance gave her a standing ovation. She was taken out of the game, but not before giving all of us one more chapter in her extraordinary tale.

It’s truly heartbreaking that we already know how this story will end, but the legacy she’ll leave behind will live on. Since her diagnosis, she’s helped raise more than $350,000 towards pediatric cancer research with the hope that the next young girl with a dream gets her shot as well. She’s inspired countless individuals all over the world, myself included.

Much like we heard a few weeks ago, last night may have been Lauren Hill’s final college basketball game. If that’s the case, then she’s already achieved more than everyone thought was possible. But until life’s final buzzer sounds for this remarkable young lady, I’m not giving up hope on #1More4Lauren. I suppose I haven’t even told you who won the game last night. Does it really matter?

I’ll continue to follow this story, so please keep checking back for updates. If you have any comments on Lauren Hill, please feel free to leave them below or follow me and tweet @BingeSports and/or @THElukenorris.