Soccer community rallies around player
NW Christian’s Floyd, 15, battles cancer in left leg
Wilson Floyd was going to school, playing club soccer and getting ready to join her sisters for the first time on the Phoenix Northwest Christian high school team, before her world was turned upside down in the fall.
Not by COVID-19.
She was given the news in late September she had cancer in her left leg – Ewing sarcoma, a tumor that forms in the bones or soft tissue surrounding bones.
“I cried a lot,” said Wilson, a freshman defender, who turned 15 on Monday. “It was hard to deal with. You go to school. I was playing club soccer, too. You’re doing all of that. It stops. So it was hard.”
It’s been a mind-boggling whirlwind. Being in pain. Oncologist visits. Tests. A biopsy. Then came the chemotherapy. She shaved her head because her hair was falling out. Her father, Bill Floyd, shaved his head in support of his daughter.
It was the first time Wilson said she had ever seen her father cry.
She spends most of her time in a wheelchair, because she becomes lightheaded when she tries to get around in a walker. It’s a side effect of the chemo. She is not supposed to put much weight on the leg. She hopes to have surgery in January, after she completes more chemo cycles. Her chemo rounds won’t be
complete until next fall. There could be radiation if all of the cancer is not gone.
“Literally within days, we were doing more tests, then starting chemo,” Bill said, recalling the days after the diagnosis.
Family, prayers, love and help are Thanksgiving Day ingredients to get Wilson through as she battles each day.
At the same time, the pandemic has delayed the start of the winter sports seasons in Arizona, which includes boys and girls soccer. When the Arizona Interscholastic Association is set to begin soccer competition on Jan. 5, Wilson’s sisters Belle and Beasley, both juniors and twins, will be on the field at Northwest Christian, while Wilson continues her fight.
She won’t be able to play this season, hoping by next year she’ll return to play one season in high school with her older sisters.
In the meantime, Northwest Christian is making bracelets and T-shirts, dedicating the upcoming season to Wilson.
“The team has really rallied to support Wilson and the Floyds,” Northwest Christian girls soccer coach Jeff Penzone said. “The day we found out, we immediately gathered as a group and prayed for the family and committed to helping in any way we could.
“The first weekend after we found out, many of the girls from the varsity and junior varsity squads gathered to make posters and get-well cards and three of my seniors organized the bracelet fundraiser (Willie’s Fight - Jeremiah 29:11) and sold all 500 of them with all of the money we raised set to go to the family.”
Penzone said the T-shirts that say “WilsonStrong” will be worn in pregame warmups for matches during the season. The training gear will be adorned with a yellow ribbon to signify support for Wilson. That yellow ribbon represents Ewing sarcoma.
‘Struggling going up and down stairs’
It started on Sept. 29, when Wilson woke up in the morning with her left knee bothering her.
“That’s nothing unusual for a soccer player and for her,” said Trish Floyd, Wilson’s mom. “We sent her to school and picked her up. She said she was struggling to go up and down stairs at school and was in a lot of pain. You could see she was in pain.”
Wilson wasn’t going to do soccer that night. And, when she stood up, it was noticeable that her left thigh was swollen.
She was taken to urgent care. There was no definitive diagnoses. Wilson then went to the emergency room at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
“Lots of tests,” Trish said. “The doctor came in and thought it was cancer.”
Ewing sarcoma affects the tissues and bones, most commonly in youth ages 10 to 20. The oncology team at Phoenix Children’s Hospital is optimistic, Trish said.
Every time she goes to the hospital, she is tested for COVID-19. So far, she’s been cleared every time.
Bill and Trish have four daughters. The oldest, Rachel, 19, is a freshman at Chapman University, a private college in Orange, California. She is home for Thanksgiving to help with Wilson, to encourage and love.
“It’s still hard to come to terms with it,” her sister Belle said.
Beasley said it doesn’t feel real. “Every time someone says the word ‘cancer,’ I say that’s too bad, and then I realize she’s dealing with cancer,” Beasley said of her sister.
Belle said she’ll think of her sister when she passes the ball back to a defender in games.
“I’ll think, ‘That could be Wilson,’ “said Belle, a midfielder. “On the other hand, she’s going to motivate me to work harder.”
Trish said they have a private family but wants the story out there to get more prayers. They’ve been coming strong from the Northwest Christian community and the SC del Sol club soccer community. The sisters play there.
“The soccer world has all reached out,” Bill said. “The goodness of the community, even in the COVID crisis, is quite impressive.”
An online page at caringbridge.org/ visit/wilsonfloyd has been set up where anyone can track Wilson’s progress and offer support. The site also includes a link to a gofundme page to assist the family.