CINCINNATI — Three years after overcoming cancer, Leah Still remains cancer-free.
Leah and her dad, former Bengals defensive tackle Devon Still, shared the good news in a YouTube video Thursday.
"Thank you, everybody, for praying for me," 8-year-old Leah said after learning that her scans turned up no signs of cancer.
Last night I went to bed with a heavy heart not knowing what today had in store. But when I woke up to the outpouring of support it gave me a sense of calmness. As you can see in the picture, the prayers worked! Thank you everyone! https://t.co/6vMD8j1Vm8 pic.twitter.com/YnF7jnDQRs
— Devon Still (@Dev_Still71) January 18, 2019
Leah was diagnosed with cancer at age 4 and went through 18 months of treatment before she beat the disease.
Now that she's older, her dad said Leah is "able to express herself and the thoughts that she's having in a way she couldn't when she was 4 years old." That can be good, but it can also be hard to hear.
Leah said she'd be willing to fight cancer again if it came back, "it's just that I don't want to lose my life."
"When she said that, it tore me up inside, because I just don't understand why an 8-year-old has to have thoughts of losing her life when she should be focused on having fun, growing up, playing with her friends," Still said. "Instead she's worried about losing her life. And as a dad, I have to hear my daughter say those things. And it's something that so many families go through that are battling this disease, because with every sneeze or cold or fever, you think the worst because you took your kid to the hospital one time because you thought it was a simple illness and found out it was cancer."
Still said he's be sharing what Leah has gone through in order to help others know what it's like for a family to have a child diagnosed with cancer.
"I try to be as transparent as possible with this journey because I want people to understand what it's like for families who are battling this disease," he said.
