Leah Still was four years old. She liked princesses and cartoons and doing the things that four-year-olds do. Her father, Devon Still, was a defensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals. The family should have been living the dream.
In June 2014, Leah was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma. A rare and aggressive childhood cancer that had already spread. The doctors gave her a 50-50 chance of survival.
She was four.
The Double Fight
Devon Still was not just fighting for his daughter's life. He was fighting for his roster spot. The Bengals had released him, and without an NFL contract, he would lose the health insurance that was paying for Leah's cancer treatment. Pediatric cancer treatment is catastrophically expensive. Without insurance, the Still family would have been financially destroyed before the first round of chemotherapy was finished.
The Bengals re-signed Devon to their practice squad — guaranteeing his health insurance. It was more than a football transaction. It was a lifeline.
The Prayer Campaign
When Devon went public with Leah's diagnosis, the response was staggering. It went beyond the Bengals. Beyond Cincinnati. Beyond the NFL. Millions of people learned about this little girl fighting for her life and they did the only thing they could: they prayed.
NFL teams across the league wore "Leah Strong" bracelets. Devon's jersey became the bestselling in the NFL that season — and he donated all the proceeds to pediatric cancer research. Complete strangers wept during his press conferences.
A four-year-old girl united an entire sports nation. And behind every jersey sold, every bracelet worn, every social media post — there was prayer. A river of it.
The Treatment
Leah underwent aggressive treatment: chemotherapy, surgery to remove the tumour, radiation, immunotherapy. The kind of treatment that is brutal even for adults. For a four-year-old, it is unimaginable.
Devon described watching his daughter go through treatment as the hardest experience of his life. The helplessness of a father who could tackle NFL running backs but could not tackle the disease in his daughter's body. All he could do was be present, advocate for her, and pray.
Cancer-Free
In March 2015, Devon Still posted a video that went viral around the world. He was on the phone with Leah's doctors. They told him the results. He broke down in tears.
Leah Still was cancer-free.
The news spread through the sports world and beyond. Teammates celebrated. Fans celebrated. Complete strangers celebrated. A four-year-old girl had beaten stage 4 cancer, and millions of people felt like they had been part of the fight.
The Aftermath
Devon Still did not let the moment pass. He founded the Still Strong Foundation to fund pediatric cancer research. He raised millions of dollars. He used the platform that football had given him to fight for every child who did not have an NFL father to attract media attention.
"God gave me a platform for a purpose," he said. And the purpose was bigger than football.
Leah grew up. She went to school. She became a kid again — which, after stage 4 cancer at age four, is the most miraculous sentence you can write.
What This Means for You
If your child is facing a cancer diagnosis, Leah Still's story is not a guarantee. But it is evidence. Evidence that stage 4 does not mean the end. Evidence that prayer from millions of people is not wasted breath. Evidence that God sees children in hospital beds and does not look away.
And if you are the parent — the one who feels helpless, who cannot fix this, who would trade places in a heartbeat if you could — you are not alone. Devon Still stood where you are standing. And his daughter is alive.
Pray. Let others pray. And do not stop believing that the God who counts every hair on your child's head is fighting for them too.
