June 8, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
Twelve soccer teams took to the field Saturday at Northside Elementary School to help raise funds for 14 year old Cameron Miller, a soon to be high school freshman, who is fighting leukemia and searching for a donor to allow him to undergo a bone marrow transplant.
The Cameron Miller Invitational Soccer Tournament, organized by Cameron’s DeKalb Middle School Soccer Coach Justin Nokes, April Coronado, and the Center Hill Soccer Club generated thousands of dollars for Cameron and heightened awareness about the need for bone marrow donors.
Cameron was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on April 5 and has been in treatment at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital receiving Chemotherapy. Although he is out of the hospital now, Cameron will soon be undergoing more therapy.
Joined by his parents, Billy and Kate Miller and brother Bill Miller, Cameron was on hand for the benefit soccer tournament Saturday.
“Cameron has been in and out of the hospital since being diagnosed but he is doing very well and is in good spirits. He is looking for a bone marrow transplant and we are trying to raise awareness for that. We have had a bone marrow match going on today called “Be the Match” to get people to register in becoming a donor,” said Cameron’s father Billy Miller.
“The next step he will go through is Car T cell treatment and then a bone marrow transplant. Hopefully that will be the end of it. Cameron has a way to go and he has some time to do in the hospital at Vanderbilt but hopefully in the next three or four months he will be through this thing and rid of it and back on the right track. With the help of everybody and the good Lord he is going to be okay,” said Billy.
“We just can’t express how much we love our community and how grateful we are to live in Smithville and all the support that has been shown from the school system, our friends and family, and our soccer family. It’s just been very overwhelming and we really appreciate all the support,” said Kate Miller.
“This is a very nice tournament and we really appreciate them putting it on. I think it’s good for our small town. We’ve been shown great support and small town love here and we’re very grateful for the community we live in and the people we are around. Thank you so much,” added Billy Miller.
You could hold the key to a life saving cure. For patients with blood cancers and other blood diseases, a donation of blood stem cells from a genetically matched donor can be a cure.
Donation is safe, free, and confidential.
Be the match. Learn how you can save a life at http://Join.BeTheMatch.org/Camo