Lauren Hill: 'Another goal met' as homecoming queen crowns her successor
Cancer fighter sets goals while living day to day
WCPO Staff
11:02 AM, Jan 27, 2015


Lauren Hill (left) as basketball homecoming queen as a senior at Lawrenceburg High School in 2014 and (right) after crowning the new queen, Paxton Parris, in 2015. (Photo posted on Facebook by Lisa Hill)

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. – Lauren Hill wears a crown with style and grace.

The 2014 basketball homecoming queen at Lawrenceburg High School was back at her alma mater Saturday to help crown the new queen and king.

SEE a gallery of Lauren as homecoming queen and crowning her successor.

"Another goal met," Lisa Hill said in a Facebook post about her amazing 19-year-old, who carries on day to day with terminal brain cancer. The post had been liked more than 5,000 times as of Monday night.

Lauren has new goals for 2015 after checking off her 2014 goals:

1) Play a college basketball game for Mount St. Joseph University (she played in four);

2) Celebrate the holidays with her family, even though doctors told her in September she wouldn't live to see Christmas;

3) Raise $1 million by the end of the year for research to find the home-run cure for cancer. She did that and more. The Lauren Hill Tribute Fund , benefitting the Cure Starts Now Foundation , is over $1.3 million and growing.

Her first goal in 2015 was crown her successor at homecoming.

Coming up on her list:

> See her high school's new gym open in June. The school plans to hang her retired No. 22 jersey.

> Serve as ambassador again for the Hyde Park Blast on June 27. The day of races and a block party benefits the Cure Starts Now.

Lauren continues to attend Mount home games in her role as honorary coach. Even when she went into the hospital for a few days to get a pain pump, she "got out on a pass" to go to the game, her mom said.

"She is still loving the pain pump and sleeping much better these days. Her balance is more unsteady the last couple days. She fell last night and hit her head pretty hard. It took both Brent and myself to get her up. Lauren learned her lesson ... wheelchair is my friend. She wants to be normal so badly it is hard for her to be so dependent. My heart breaks for her as with each passing day we keep having to adapt to a new normal. "

Now THIS woman was a true Leader who set an example for America. Her bravery and determination will be missed. Rest in peace, Lauren.

Lauren Hill, who made inspirational layup, dies of tumor
Associated Press By JOE KAY
5 hours ago Friday, April 10, 2015



CINCINNATI (AP) — Lauren Hill's teammates and coaches are remembering the 19-year-old college basketball player with her own inspiring words: "Never give up."

An example she lived by as she fought a brain tumor and rallied those around her to help her achieve her dream of playing in a game.

Several hundred students gathered on the grassy quad at Mount St. Joseph on Friday, spelling out Hill's No. 22 with blue plastic cups on a chain-link fence a few hours after she died at a local hospital. Her death was confirmed Friday morning by the co-founder of her nonprofit foundation, The Cure Starts Now.

Hill attended the Division III school and played after being diagnosed with the inoperable tumor. She spent her final year polishing a layup and inspiring others to live fully.

"She taught us that every day is a blessing, every moment is a gift," school President Tony Aretz said.

She did it by showing up for practice even though turning her head made her dizzy and left her physically spent. She appeared in four games, making five layups, before the tumor's effects forced her to stop.

And she smiled a lot in defiance of the disease that was slowly sapping her of life. Her teammates remembered that smile on Friday.

"This pain will end, the smile will not," junior forward Erica Walsh told the crowd.



Players cried on each other's shoulders while the crowd sang five verses of "Amazing Grace" during the half-hour vigil. Coach Dan Benjamin hugged each player after they attached flowers to the fence in Hill's honor.

Then, they huddled and yelled, "Play for 22," the team's slogan before each game and practice. The team visited Hill on Thursday to say goodbye.

"One of the toughest moments in my coaching career ever was lying next to her in the hospital bed, holding her hand, thanking her," Benjamin said.



An assistant coach read one of her essays that ended with: "Never give up on your dream. Find something to fight for. I fight for others."

Hill helped to raise roughly $1.5 million for research into pediatric cancer.

Along the way, she became known simply as Lauren, someone who knew how to make the most of every day and who had a knack for encouraging others to do the same. Several restaurants near the college honored her on Friday with mentions on their advertising boards.

One read: Learn from Lauren, Focus on Giving."

A year and a half ago, Hill was just another high school student getting ready for college. She started experiencing dizziness while playing for her high school team in nearby Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Tests found the tumor. Treatment didn't work. She knew she had less than two years left.



While the tumor squeezed her brain, Hill squeezed back, holding onto life as tightly as she could.

"I'm spreading awareness and also teaching people how to live in the moment because the next moment's not promised," Hill told the AP after one of her team's 6 a.m. practices. "Anything can happen at any given moment. What matters is right now.

"Especially after this kind of diagnosis, your perspective on life and what you value changes."

For Hill, that meant spending time with her parents and a brother and sister, going to college, raising money for cancer research, inspiring others, and achieving her goal of scoring a basket in a game.

A lot of people got involved to make it happen.



The NCAA agreed to let Mount St. Joseph move up its opening game against Hiram College by two weeks because Hill's condition was deteriorating. Xavier University offered its 10,000-seat arena so more people could attend. Tickets sold out in less than an hour.

By the time the game came around on Nov. 2, the tumor had affected Hill's right side so much that she had to shoot with her non-dominant hand. With Tennessee women's coach Pat Summitt and an impressive cast of WNBA players on hand, Hill took a pass and made a left-handed layup only 17 seconds into the game.

Tears. Goosebumps. Applause.

She also made the last basket of the game, returning for a right-handed layup.

NCAA president Mark Emmert said Hill achieved a lasting and meaningful legacy.



"Lauren Hill's bravery, enthusiasm and strength were an inspiration not only to those who knew her best but also to the millions of people she touched around the world by sharing her story," Emmert said.

News of Hill's death sparked quick reactions all over social networks. It was a worldwide trending topic on Twitter, where Cavaliers superstar LeBron James wrote a short letter to Hill in a series of five tweets.

"Can u please tell my Grandma I said hello," James said. "Don't be afraid, she knows you cause we spoke about u plenty of times."

Those close to her watched her grit things out as her condition worsened. When the season ended, her team held its annual dinner in a room at the hospital where Hill was being treated.

Hill hoped raising money would help others have a better chance at beating cancer in the future. Her Layup4Lauren challenge and other fundraising activities brought in donations worldwide.

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association voted her the Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award, which is normally awarded at the Final Four. Athletes from other colleges autographed No. 22 jerseys and sent them in support.

Hill befriended Cincinnati Bengals defensive lineman Devon Still, whose 4-year-old daughter, Leah, is fighting cancer. They exchanged jerseys, and she attended a Bengals game and met Leah.

As the cancer slowed her down, those around her took a bigger role in promoting her campaign. And she kept reminding everyone to appreciate life.

"Life is precious," she told WKRC-TV. "Every moment you get with someone is a moment that's blessed, really blessed."

That is, at the same time, horrific and heroic to see and read. May God bless this young lady.

We all too often don't take pause as friends, parents, aunts, uncles, teachers, coaches or whomever to take stock of how fortunate we are and how quickly all that can change.

I have no intention of taking away from this young ladies struggle, suffering or her families heartbreak, so if need be, someone please move this-

I'm not a big "prayer", in all honesty I'm a poor C & E'er. But I do believe in the power of, well, something. Be it positive thought, good karma, energy flowing, something. To wit-

This kid I have known since he was in a stroller. Lives 4 houses up the cul-de-sac and he and my son have been friends, skateboarders, bike riders, class mates and team mates since they were out of their strollers. Nigh on 12 years now. He's 16, my son turned 17 a month or so ago, he will net month.

I have coached him since he was about 4 in soccer, football, swimming, lax, whatever and he's a talented kid, good student and generally good person.

He, and his mother, younger brother and sister lost Dad and Husband in a car wreck when he was about 6. Now this.

So, yea. Just thought I'd put it out here, as many of you are very generous with your prayers, this kid needs all he can get.

We can all pee and moan about the stupid stuff all day, but on occasion some perspective is useful.

Thanks!

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