Hill's profile of courage inspires many

If you need a good cry, or something to inspire you, Google Lauren Hill.

You may have already heard about her story. It's definitely gone viral.

She's a freshman forward for the basketball team at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati.

Two months after committing to play basketball for the Lions on her birthday, the Indiana native got devastating news. She learned that a brain cancer called DIPG (diffuse intrinsic potine glioma) would kill her in less than two years.

Last month, an MRI showed that the tumor on her brainstem had grown and that she probably wouldn't make it to the end of December.

Hill was a star player at Lawrenceburg High School in southeastern Indiana, but saw her skills diminish quickly because of her illness. She still wanted to be on the team at Mount St. Joseph's and has had one wish since she arrived on campus.

She wants to make it into a game at least once in her No. 22 uniform.

The Lions' first game of the season is Sunday, and Hill will attempt to live out her dream before a television audience (1 p.m. CSN Chicago and Fox Sports Ohio), as well as a sellout crowd at Xavier's Cintas Center, where the game was moved in order to accommodate the high demand.

One person in the crowd will be Chicago Sky star forward Elena Delle Donne, who is one of many professional athletes across the country profoundly moved by Hill's story.

On Lauren Hill's website at www.1more4lauren.com, many athletes - including Sky guards Epiphanny Prince, Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot - have left personal video messages of encouragement.

"When I first saw her story, I was emotional and immediately wanted to do something for her," Delle Donne told me Thursday. "I wanted her to know that she has the entire support of the WNBA behind her and that we are so inspired by her courage and passion for the game of basketball. I immediately texted my agent, Lindsay, and asked if we could put something together ASAP in support of her.

"I also knew I was going to do whatever it took to attend the game."

On a different scale, Delle Donne can relate to Hill and her health struggles.

Delle Donne is afflicted with Lyme disease, a nasty, relentless condition that has caused debilitating exhaustion and other physical challenges. This summer, Delle Donne missed a majority of the Sky's regular season to what she calls a Lyme flare-up.

"What Lauren is facing shouldn't even be put in the same sentence with what I have ever experienced, but I will always look to her for inspiration when I am having any flare-ups with my Lyme disease," Delle Donne said. "It's such a helpless feeling when an illness is taking away certain pleasures in our lives such as playing basketball, and I admire her toughness and courage to come out and play this game. She will always be an inspiration of mine."

Delle Donne, who is getting healthier and recovering nicely from the back injury that also gave her trouble last summer, says that she is dedicating the Sky's 2015 season opener to Hill. She has also made a donation to The Cure Starts Now, a leading charity to find a cure for DIPG.

"I would just want (Hill) to know that her story has reached so many and that we will continue to make sure her legacy lives on," Delle Donne said of what she'll say to Hill on Sunday if she gets the chance. "I'd also tell her how much I admire her strength and fight, and that she is a true inspiration to so many."

• pbabcock@dailyherald.com

• Follow Patricia on Twitter@babcockmcgraw.