Lauren Evans in her Shands hospital room with her father, former UF running back Jerome Evans, and mother Allison.
'It's going to be a hel-LO-va Story'
Monday, December 25, 2017 | Soccer, Chris Harry
Soccer freshman Lauren Evans has vowed to win her battle with leukemia.
She found one that fit the circumstances.
"God gives His toughest battles to His toughest soldiers."
Three weeks later, Evans was sitting in her hospital bed, some 15 pounds less than at the start of the month. "Lo," as she's called, recalled that Googling moment and added a quote of her own that illustrated perfectly why she, her mother and father, as well as her University of Florida soccer team believe this beloved, effervescent freshman not only will stare down the acute myeloid leukemia that invaded her body this holiday season, but be back with the Gators for their 2018 soccer season.
"If God was going to give someone leukemia, I just figured I was the perfect one for it," Evans said last week in her fourth-floor Shands room decorated with get-well notes, photos and even a tiny Christmas tree. "Everyone tells me I'm the light of the team, so I guess that's good right now. I'm a super-positive person, and you have to be positive to get through something like this. Being negative won't work. I'm going to look on the bright side. There's no other choice."
Evans may be small, but she's fierce.
And a soldier, to be sure.
My New Years resolution is to kick cancers ass
— LO?? (@Lauren_Evans999) December 18, 2017
Her story, all parties believe, will be a courageous and inspiring one, with seeds of that belief rooted in UF's 2017 season that ended one game shy of the Final Four. The Gators weren't supposed to get that far, but Coach Becky Burleigh filled their minds with such positivity that even when down two goals against South Carolina in the NCAA regional final, the Gators believed they would win.
"It's going to be a helluva story," the players said over and over.
If it sounds familiar, that's because Burleigh borrowed the phrase from the New England Patriots. Specifically, from Tom Brady and Julian Edelman, who were miked up during their astonishing and historic Super Bowl comeback last February against the Atlanta Falcons. Down by 25 points, Brady and Edelman kept saying, "It's going to be a helluva story," which it was.
Now, this Gator family is seeking a different kind of miracle.
On Nov. 25, the day after UF's season ended, Evans went to the team doctor complaining of a sore throat, no appetite and generally feeling weak. Routine tests for pneumonia and mononucleosis came back negative, leading doctors to more complicated ones. Those tests revealed an inordinate amount of white blood cells. Evans had acute myeloid leukemia, a form of cancer that starts in the bone marrow and invades the blood. Untreated, the disease can be fatal within months. She was immediately admitted to Shands.
The day after Evans was diagnosed, Burleigh met with her team to break the news. Afterward, she visited Evans in the hospital and, amid the emotions, was awestruck by how upbeat her player was despite undergoing the first wave of chemo treatments. That was a Tuesday. The Friday before, Evans was bouncing around like normal as the team prepared for the biggest game of the season.
What happened?
"How did we get from last Friday to here?" Burleigh asked rhetorically.
Evans' response: "I don't know, Becky … but it's going to be a helluva story."
Burleigh nearly broke down.
"We were using it from a performance level and she took it to a personal level," Burleigh said. "Obviously, I would have loved to have won a national championship this year, but if I had to choose between that and taking what we taught and applying that to a real-life fight, it's not even a choice."
Now, the Gators have put a different twist on the theme: This one's going to be a "hel-LO-va" story.
That's uppercase "L" and "O," as in "Lo," in tribute to the story's brave leading lady.
"Out of every two weeks, I'm going to probably have three bad days," Lo said. "So during the bad days, I'm just going to look ahead and know there will be way more good ones than bad."
She was told by doctors her leukemia has a high cure rate, and while most patients are in the hospital anywhere from six to 16 months, they caught Lo's early enough that she may be in the hospital as few as four months.
"On one of those days when I'm super-nauseous or have a fever, I'll just know my time here is going to be a lot less than most," she said. "And that tomorrow will be better than today."
It's that optimism that sustains her parents, Allison and Jerome Evans. Jerome played football for the Gators from 1993-96. He started two games at fullback for Steve Spurrier and the 1996 national-championship team.
"We've always been an optimistic family, always tried to see the glass as half-full, and she's always been a very positive kid — but this was so far out of left field," Jerome said. "She's had some adversity before, but nothing like this. Her strength, right now, has to be something that is just deep inside her."
Twenty-five years ago, Jerome Evans was one of the most sought-after linebackers in the state of Florida. A superstar at Arcadia DeSoto High, he once rushed for 220 yards and had 22 tackles in a state playoff game. As a Gator, he didn't get many chances to run the football (just 14 career carries for 51 yards and a touchdown), but Evans was a fixture in the UF backfield and stellar pass-blocker for Danny Wuerffel.
"That's where I got my athletic genes," Lo said.
She was a superstar club player in the Tampa Bay area and Lithia (Fla.) Newsome High. Jerome watched her on many a day score four or five goals, but the games he enjoyed most — and when she excelled the most — came when the other team had a superstar player, as well.
"The biggest personal challenges always brought out the best in her," he said.
Now, Lo faces her greatest challenge of all, but her father has seen too many signs to believe anything other than a happy ending awaits.
He explained how his daughter, a Gator her whole life, bypassed scholarship offers in hopes UF eventually would come calling. Sure enough, on the eve of an official visit to Mississippi State, that call came. Her parents, figuring on lots of trips up I-75 for football and soccer games, bought a condominium in nearby Haile Plantation for convenience.
Now, Jerome and Allison are living in that condo (a 15-minute drive to the hospital) and the place their daughter and only child went to school just happens to be home to one of the finest cancer centers in the country.
"There cannot be that many coincidences," Jerome said. "It just seems that if she has to go through this, things are as they should be."
"It's going to be a helluva story!" ???? pic.twitter.com/o0RZ7htxy4
— Becky Burleigh (@BeckyBurleigh) November 30, 2017
Because the family lives so close, Lo may be cleared to leave the hospital for a couple days next week if test results are favorable. She's using that as short-term incentive.
Beyond that, the timeline for her four treatment cycles is 10 days of chemo, followed by 20 days off, then repeat. The best possible scenario will wrap treatments in March.
"We don't care how long it takes," Burleigh said. "We just want her back."
For Lo Evans, that's the long-term incentive. What a story that would be.
A "hel-LO-va" one.
"I will be playing soccer in 2018," Evans said, breaking into a smile. "Maybe even starting."
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