I want to take a break from Nationals news for just a moment to tell you a quick story about a young lady from back home.
In October of last year, ten year old Heather Miller was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma after tumors were found in her second rib and tissue on her lung. Their family has spent the last few months in and out of Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh for Heather’s treatments. My mother sends me occasional updates on her condition. In small towns, everyone is a friend of a friend of a friend. Heather’s brilliant, beaming smile always gets my attention.
Like us, Heather is also a proud member of Steelers Nation. During her time at Children’s Hospital, she has become a close companion of Pittsburgh Steelers safety, Troy Polamalu.
From the Altoona Mirror:
On their first meeting, the two exchanged bracelets: a Greek Orthodox yarn bracelet made up of 43 knots with 7 crosses each from him and a green rubber bracelet from Heather with her motto on it - F.R.O.G., or Fully Rely on God.
On Jan. 26, as Polamalu geared up for the Super Bowl in Florida, Heather was facing surgery. Polamalu sent her a text message a couple of days before and then again twice the day of her surgery - his Media Day in Florida.
One message read, ”I am so proud of you. You’re so tough.”
Polamalu describes Heather as, “my No. 1 fan, without a doubt,” while her family describes him as “a true angel for us.”
I am always inspired to see athletes getting involved in helping others, especially lifting up kids like Heather. We don’t make requests like this often, but her story hits really close to home.
If you would like to send a monetary donation (no matter how small), your donations would help her family with food, transportation and lodging for the numerous trips they make to Pittsburgh, as well as the increasing costs for Heather’s care.
Heather Miller Medical Fund
PO Box 229
Osterburg, PA 16667
…or just keep them in your thoughts and prayers. To learn more about Heather, you can visit the website her family has set up.
Entries (RSS)
March 6th, 2009 at 10:54 am
It’s always great to see pro athletes who actually care about their community.
It’s a nice break from the TOs and Manny Ramirezes
March 6th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Rob, totally agree - and had to share it. Troy is, apparently, a wonderful guy.
On another note - sorry about adding this captcha thing for commenting. We’re having a ton of problems with spam comments.
March 7th, 2009 at 10:24 am
Thank you for that note!
I am not only a Washington Nationals fan but also a HUGE Steeler fan. Keep up the great work Troy! Our thoughts our with Heather.
March 9th, 2009 at 4:40 am
WSBGM’s wants to know who has the best bullpen in the NL East. We’ve broken down each team’s set of relief pitchers and included a poll to vote.
Link: http://pabaseball.blogspot.com/2009/03/nl-east-bullpens.html
Please give it a link, if you like it. Thanks!
March 10th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Thanks for posting this, Kristen. It’s always nice for athletes, bloggers, and readers alike to have a perspective on the bigger picture.
March 17th, 2009 at 11:50 am
I’m glad I stumbled upon this. I will keep Heather and her family in my prayers. I too am a proud member of Steeler Nation. Troy is a class act but, I would expect nothing less from a member of the Rooney family’s football team who are also class acts.
September 10th, 2009 at 8:53 am
I was very touched by Heather’s story when I saw it on the today show this morning. I would love to get one of the green F.R.O.G bracelets with Heather’s name on it to wear in support of her and her family. I am the assistant coach of the University of Kentucky gymnastics team and would love to share your story to my team members. I will be praying for Heather and everyone that is touched by her.
September 10th, 2009 at 8:56 am
Where can you purchase the FROG bracelets to honor Heather?
September 10th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Here’s a link to the video of the Today Show. Heather and Kellie - I will try to find out.
September 10th, 2009 at 9:32 am
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/32775887#32775887
September 10th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Hi Heather,
My family watched your life story on the “Today Show” this morning and we have been touched by your courage and strength.
God Bless you and your family. Keep up your faith and hope. Your a wonderful girl. We would like to support your “Motto”,
F.R.O.G. HEATHER, and wear your bracelet with honor and hope for your fight against cancer. Please let us and probably many others who would
like to support you and give us a chance to donate to your fight. Where can we purchase or donate towards one of your bracelets?
In His Love,
The Rich Family
From Bakersfield, CA
September 10th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Heather,
I am very proud of you and the strength that God has given you to continue marching forward and never looking back. You set a great example to all children who are fighting various forms of cancer and other diseases. Your faith remains always strong and you have never given up fight to conquer this battle you carry with you each and every day. My family holds you dear to our hearts and you have been in our prayers for quite some time now. I truly admire Troy for the role he has taken in your life and thank him from the bottom of my heart for all he has done for you, through his moral support and always being there for you. He truly does possess a loving and caring gift from God which is a heart bigger than Pittsburgh itself. Teoy was sent to lift you to his shoulders and help you conquer this battle. I admire your over abundance of strength and would be pround and honored to wear one of your bracelets if I could purchase one. God Bless You, Your Family and Troy.
Charlie, Terri & Brett
Brom Midway, TN
September 28th, 2009 at 6:30 am
Heather’s FROG bracelets are available for purchase…
We’ll try to get you in contact with the right person if you are interested.
(To be clear, we aren’t selling the bracelets!)
October 4th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Watched Troy @ USC, was raised a Steeler fanatic, brings warmth to my heart to see Troy sharing his faith. Heather my thoughts and prayers are continuous for you, I wear my Polamalu jersey every Sunday too.
Troy, fa’afetai!!
November 3rd, 2009 at 7:52 pm
My school is her school’s rival, and we’re playing each other in a football game this friday.
So this senior in my school decided to help Heather out for her Senior Project, and started selling t-shirts in honor of Heather and to raise money for her.
She also worked it out with Heather’s school to wear these shirts too, with their slogan for their school to be on them.
Their green because her favorite colors green.
I know tons and tons of people who bought shirts and i hope we lift Heather’s spirits up.
I’m soo proud of my school, i couldn’t be happier.
I can’t wait to see the outcome!
And Troy’s such a sweetheart (:
November 6th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Heather is so strong, it is unbelievable. Tonight is the football game against Heather’s school. I go to the same school as Sarah, above me. The senior who started this whole project announced today, at our pep rally, that we had raised $5,344 from the t-shirts and bracelets. That is not counting the amount of money Heather’s school raised. I am so incredibly proud of the teachers and kids from my school who bought the t-shirts and bracelets and supported Heather Miller and her family. Heather is doing the coin flip at the game tonight, and I am very excited. It’s nice to know the people in my school can come together and raise money for such an incredible cause.
I am not sure if you guys know how to buy the bracelets, but you can email heatherbracelet@yahoo.com
God Bless Heather Miller and her family
December 12th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
This so COOL, such a positive response from people. I just contacted the yahoo site for more info about the bracleets, getting one for my whole family! I got warm all over reading some of the comments and remembering the story in the Steeler’s Digest, got warm and it is 20 degrees outside. Our payers are with Heather and her family, make god keep them and bless them. My hope is the story gains more momentum and support for the family!
January 20th, 2010 at 11:35 am
[…] 20, 2010 in Art A couple days ago, I got an email from a friend about a girl named Heather, who is 11 years old. Heather was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma, a type […]
January 28th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
I’m not sure how up to date you guys stay with Heather, but I wanted to let you know that she is not doing good at all. She has been in a lot of pain, and it seems to get worse and worse. Please pray for Heather and her family. We all have to come together and be just as strong, if not stronger, than she and her family are. She needs all of us to get through this.
Please pray for Heather. <3
January 29th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Heather passed away tonight at 10:05 pm. (jan. 29) To view here website copy and paste this link.. http://www.commercialwebbing.com/updates.html
My thoughts and prayers go out to the family. God has truely blessed you with an angel.
January 30th, 2010 at 8:08 am
heather may have lost the battle but GOD has different ideas for her now . she was amazing girl and always cheerful no mattered what took place ,her and her family are always in our prayers . we know our race team helped heather at one point and she did one of many things she wanted to do ride in a race car around the track. always in our thoughts and prayers .
January 30th, 2010 at 8:12 am
amazing person
January 30th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
Our thoughts and prayers are with your family. We will never forget you or your smile. God Bless