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Rashawn King, leukemia survivor, is cleared to play

player_RASHAWN KING

Rashawn King is one of the nation’s best stories.

As a 17 year old high schooler, King felt himself getting sick at a football camp. He was taken to the hospital, where doctors essentially told him that his white blood cell count was so high -- that his previously undiagnosed leukemia was so bad -- that he literally would have died the next day had he not made it to the hospital.

King ended up surviving and has since enrolled at NC Central.

And on Thanksgiving, he was cleared to play this season.

I think I know what King is thankful for, and I think the kind of kid that King is deserves repeating:

Make-A-Wish asked King his wish.

It was to meet Miami Heat star LeBron James.

So everything was setup for Rashawn King to meet The King at last season’s NBA All-Star game.

“But then I started thinking about it, and I decided it would be very selfish of me to use my Wish to meet one of my heroes when there were so many people who had been helping me when I was sick and down,” King said. “I decided I wanted to give back to those people. I decided to do something different.”

What King decided was that he’d rather throw a lunch-party for his classmates who had spent much of the previous two years fundraising and praying for him than meet the NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player. It was an odd request for Make-A-Wish but one the foundation happily granted. Chick-fil-A sandwiches and sides were provided for nearly 2,000 students and faculty last April at Middle Creek High while King stood at the head of the line hugging and thanking friends and teachers.


King eventually got a chance to meet and hang out with Lebron, but that’s besides the point.

He’s cleared to play. King, now 20, beat cancer and will now continue his athletic career. And while King will probably never be more than a member of a team that spends every November and December getting slaughtered in guarantee games, the simple fact that he’ll be able to have an irrelevant career is incredible in and of itself.