EyeOnCollege Football
By Jerry Hinnen | Blogger
The most inspiring story you're going to read this Valentine's Day comes to you from the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, which reports that Toledo senior defensive end Ben Pike will give up his final season of eligiblity to help his fiancee Ashlee Barrett battle leukemia.
"I know in some people's terms, he's giving up things," Pike's mother, Becky Pike, told the Plain-Dealer. "But he's really not giving up. He's not giving up anything. He's really fighting for life. And he's just turned his forces to he's going to win a battle for life instead of winning on the football field."
A former Toledo basketball player, Barrett was first diagnosed with leukemia in April 2012 and was told Jan. 25. that the cancer had returned after a brief remission. Pike will graduate in May with his education degree and move to St. Louis, Barrett's hometown, where she teaches second grade and where Pike spent much of 2012 helping her through chemotherapy.
Pike proposed to Barrett on the White House driveway -- thanks to some smooth talking of a Secret Service member -- during the Rockets' visit during the 2011 Military Bowl. The couple still plans to marry June 15, after Barett receives bone marrow transplant in April.
"Through all the adversity we've been through, our relationship is greater than I ever thought it would be," Pike said. "It's pretty cool to see something incredible happen during something earth-shattering."
After a productive 2012 season that saw him finish second on the Rockets in sacks and fifth in tackles-for-loss, Pike was poised for the best season of his Toledo career.
But Barrett's description of Pike's devotion to the Toledo athletics site after her first bout with leukemia makes it clear that Pike won't have any regrets.
"I know I couldn't have gotten through it without Ben," Barrett said. "He's been a rock for me throughout this whole experience. He's seen me at my absolute worse. Obviously, shaving my head was a difficult experience. But he always made me feel special. I'm in my hospital bed getting chemo and he's doing something to make the day fun for me, somehow.
"I have so much respect for Ben. I know what a student-athlete has to go through. He's trying to graduate, thinking about his future. Most guys his age don't have a fianc?e who is going through leukemia. He's really special."
Given Pike's and Barrett's story -- and we do recommend reading both the entire Plain-Dealer story and the Toledo story from October -- it seems like "really special" might be underselling it.
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