Some things are more important than football to Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes. That’s why in every game this season, he wore a bracelet that was given to him by Whitney Wells, a 10-year-old St. Joseph girl who was battling a brain tumor.
Whitney lost that battle earlier this week, according to a Facebook post from her family that was reported by KMBC-TV.
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“We are not yet at a place to have nor say the appropriate words regarding the loss of our beautiful girl,” the family wrote in the Facebook group Fight for Whitney. “We do want to say thank you to everyone for reaching out. Life is hard, but you are easing the pain.”
Wells’ family said services were held at Thursday at Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Joseph, with burial will following in Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that you make donations to the Whitney Kate Wells Memorial Foundation, about which they will release more details on soon.
Doctors diagnosed Wells with a rare brain tumor called D.I.P.G. in May, and she spent most of her summer at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis seeking treatment. But she didn’t let the illness stop her from having some fun with her favorite football team. She met several Chiefs players at training camp, including Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce, wide receiver Sammy Watkins and coach Andy Reid.
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By the time that meeting was over, Mahomes was wearing Whitney’s fundraising bracelet with her catch phrase “You got this.” It’s a band he’s worn ever since when he takes the football field.
In December, Mahomes made another gesture in honor of Wells’ fight. In the game against the Denver Broncos, a light baby-blue bracelet with Whitney’s name on it was attached to Mahomes’ cleats – just like the bracelet Whitney gave to him four months earlier.
– Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
