Wake Forest Linebacker Invites Leukemia Survivor to Draft
Posted by Aaron Wilson on April 15, 2009, 12:20 p.m.
On the football field, Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry has a reputation as a big hitter and is regarded as one of the top players in the draft.
Off the field, Curry has a big heart, as evidenced by him inviting a young leukemia survivor to attend the NFL Draft with him in New York.
According to the Associated Press, Curry met Bryson Merriweather, 12, at St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
Merriweathers leukemia is currently in remission after receiving five rounds of chemotherapy. He has been hospitalized for nearly two years.
We were acting like he was just taking me on a regular tour around the hospital, Curry told the AP. Toward the end we ended up outside tossing each other a football and I just started talking about the draft.
He said he had seen it and I was telling him that I had been invited and if he would join me in this experience. So I said, So come to New York with me and get drafted into the NFL.
Merriweather, who hopes to play football again one day, is overjoyed to be going to the draft.
The Alabama native used to play tight end and defensive end before the discovery that his chest pains and shortness of breath were caused by acute myeloid leukemia.
Although the cancer is in remission, Merriweathers younger brother is a candidate to give him a bone marrow transplant at some point if needed. Merriweather has been trying to raise awareness about the disease through bone marrow transplant drives.
After meeting Bryson, I just think it was the perfect route to go, Curry said. Bryson has already done some things in the community and hes only 12.
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