During last year’s draft, the Cleveland Browns selected St. Jude patient and cancer survivor Shon Coleman with the No. 76 overall pick. A year later, the NFL is giving another St. Jude patient the chance to walk across the draft stage. Gymnast and Illinois native Kate Foster will be announcing the second-round selection (No. 36 overall) for her favorite team, the Chicago Bears, during the 2017 NFL Draft.
St. Jude patient Kate Foster to announce the Chicago Bears’ Round 2 pick
The gymnast didn’t let losing a leg stop her from competing.
Scott Corcoran Photography, LLC
Foster had been a competitive gymnast since she was 8 years old and didn’t let her cancer diagnosis in 2010 keep her from what she loved. After undergoing the initial treatments for acute myeloid leukemia, which included chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, she ended up losing her left leg due to complications.
“She was up on crutches the same day she lost her leg,” her mother, Barb, said. “Within a week of getting her prosthetic leg, she was learning to run.”
She didn’t waste anytime getting back in the gym, but was sidelined again soon after. Foster’s cancer returned in 2012, which is when her family turned to St. Jude for treatment. She was given a drug to improve the odds of yet another bone marrow transplant, and it worked.
Now in remission, the high school senior is just a month away from graduating and will attend the University of North Carolina in the fall. She still spends her spare time around the gym coaching and helping younger girls learn what hard work and a never-give-up attitude can really accomplish.
The opportunity for Foster to announce the Bears’ pick came about through the NFL’s partnership with St. Jude. The NFL PLAY 60 program has contributed to the organization since 2012 through play therapy and peer interaction. It’s efforts like these that keep treatment, travel, housing, and/or food free for patients like Shon Coleman and Kate Foster.
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