It was made possible by a unique organization, Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, dedicated to improving the lives of children with brain tumors. The organization is the named for a 14-year-old New York girl who is a brain cancer survivor.
The Foundation brings together children like her with high school and college sports teams and it makes for a powerful experience for both the kids and the athletes.
4-year-old Lily Adkins in an honorary starter for the Temple Owl's women's lacrosse team; she's also a survivor of a malignant ependymoma brain tumor.
The tumor was diagnosed when Lilly was just 14-months-old and the cancer has been in remission for several years.
When her parents, Mike and Trish Adkins, both Temple alumni, heard about the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, they knew they wanted to be involved.
"I think every day since it's happened we've walked around with goofy smiles on our faces like we're in love or something, which we are; we're in love all these girls, they're so great," Trish said.
Lily is this team's second adoptee. The girls welcomed little Devon Lam as an honorary teammate a few years ago. Devon died in 2008.
The girls and their coach have so fully embraced the Foundation's mission; they wanted a chance to make a difference in another child's life.
"After we lost Devon, I had to make sure we grieved properly and that our players were equipped to handle the idea of taking on another child and giving of themselves," Temple lacrosse coach Bonnie Rosen said.
Lily has changed the game and the world for them.
"It just makes me so excited to play for her," captain Alex Shapiro said.
"It's just a really great feeling to see her on the field and for her to wear our jersey, number 31, it's just an awesome feeling," lacrosse attacker Lauren Fisher said.
"It really makes me love the sport even more to know we have the opportunity to help these little kids who are going through so much," freshman Kellee Pace said.
The Friends of Jaclyn Foundation has completed more than 200 adoptions like Lily's in dozens of sports.
It currently has more than 1,000 schools on a waiting list to adopt their own honorary teammates, as this small organization grows into a wonderfully larger one.
