UPDATE: Still's pre-surgery pep talk for daughter pays off

By Brett Smiley
Published

UPDATE: Devon Still shared a heartwarming update following his daughter Leah's cancer surgery.

A big milestone has arrived in the simultaneously heartwrenching and heartwarming story about Bengals defensive tackle Devon Still and his daughter Leah, who is battling a form of childhood cancer called neuroblastoma. 

Following several rounds of chemotherapy, on Thursday, 4-year-old Leah will undergo surgery to have a tumor removed from her abdomen. 

Earlier Thursday morning, Still posted a video showing his "pre-surgery pep talk" for Leah with the caption, "I might be nervous and scared beyond words but I'll never let her see it...let's get this done!"

Still has had the support of the Bengals organization throughout the ordeal. Earlier this month, we learned that the team had signed Still to its practice squad after releasing him, allowing him to maintain health insurance for the expensive treatments Leah would require. 

Then the Bengals began to sell Devon Still jerseys (No. 75) in mid-Sept. with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting pediatric cancer research, a campaign that produced $400,000 worth of funds in only four days. Later, the team re-signed Still to its active roster. 

Still previously told ESPN that he would learn on Sept. 16 whether the tumor had reduced enough in size for doctors to attempt to remove it on Sept. 25, after which she would have to endure another round of chemotherapy and radiation and eventually a stem cell harvesting.

Some more photos Still has posted over the past couple weeks:

In that last one, from Wednesday, Leah had just taken a call from Hoda Kotb of "Today." Kotb produced a song that mashed up Sara Bareilles' "Brave" and Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors," making the tune "Truly Brave." (You can check out the associated fund-raising effort here.) The song debuted Thursday morning.

There's even a music video for the track that stars Leah and other young cancer patients at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Check it out.

Here's a still from the video showing the "Woman of Still."