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Dribble for the Cure recap: An Amazing Day at UCLA!

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

The Dribble for the Cure festivities took place on Sunday at UCLA.  The men's and women's basketball team, marching band, spirit squad, and many individuals whose lives had been touched by pediatric cancer all took part in the festivities, and it was quite a day of celebration, remembrance, and dedication. 

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For me, it was mostly a day of giving thanks.  I am so thankful that I was able to spend the day with Tyler, friends and my extended Bruin family together; so thankful for all of the researchers who keep searching for answers each day; and so thankful for people like you, who show both incredible compassion and support for people who are going through rough times and incredible generosity in your donations which make further research possible.

Thanks to the incredible response here at Bruins Nation, we had over 150 people donate more than a combined $8500 to Tyler's fundraising page.  This total not only made Tyler the top individual fundraiser, but also the top fundraiser overall, outpacing even the corporate teams who were participating in the event!  Tyler was presented with an award by coaches Ben Howland and Nikki Caldwell for this achievement and was given a standing ovation at center court of Pauley Pavilion.  Everyone here shares that award, and I hope that you can share a piece of the joy that I've been beaming with for days.

After the event, the players made themselves available for autographs and could not have been more gracious.  We then spoke at length with former Bruin great John Vallely, who now serves on the board of directors for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation.  The heartache and adversity that cancer has imposed on his life is quite moving, and his focus and dedication towards finding better treatments is inspirational.  Finally, we met with coach Nikki Caldwell, and all I can do is echo what others have said about her here.  We should feel honored to have someone with such amazing character, energy, and commitment representing our university.

This was the 3rd Dribble For the Cure event.  The first year, we weren't able to attend as the event coincided with Tyler's first relapse.  The 2nd year, Tyler was in the hospital getting a bone marrow transplant.  This year, he finally made it, but needed a wheelchair to make it through the course.  Next year, he's going to be walking (if not sprinting) his way around campus- and I'll be counting on your support to get him there.

Here are some photos of Tyler at the event.  Thank you to Bruin805 for providing the award photos

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Thank you all for making this such an incredible day!

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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