Football team pays touching tribute to cheerleader with leukemia
PALO CEDRO, Calif. -- As Foothill High School football players entered the field for Friday night's game, "they took care of family business," said their head coach Joey Brown.
All 57 members of the team each laid an orange rose at the feet of Ashley Adamietz. Orange is the designated color for leukemia awareness.
The senior cheerleader was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in early August. Her cheer coach, Becki Smith, said the teen has been going through daily chemotherapy treatments ever since.
On her Twitter account, Adamietz said she was, "shocked, overwhelmed, and speechless," with all the support.
The plan was organized by senior football player Ryan Caetano, and the whole team was behind the idea.
"She's part of the cougar family, so why not let her know that we're all here for her. We are. So I wanted to let that be known to everybody, and especially to her, for what she's going through."
KRCR News Channel 7's Evan Schreiber recorded the video. He posted the footage first on Facebook Tuesday night. It was shared more than 118,000 times and viewed more than 5,600,000 times in the first 24 hours.
Ashley Adamietz has declined recent interviews regarding this story, as she's going through treatment, but said through her coach that she appreciated the support.
