Young Minnesota fan with brain tumor meets U.S. Women's National Soccer Team ahead of St. Paul game
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Tuesday night, the U.S. Women's National Team is taking on South Korea at Allianz Field in St. Paul.
This is a friendly match before the team heads to Paris to compete in the Olympics. One enthusiastic fan got the chance to meet the team before they left.
"I play goalie so I think the goalie signatures were my favorite to get," said Lyla Mamun, a student at Prior Lake High School.
She cannot believe she's held a U.S. Women's National soccer jersey with her name and number on it, signed by all the players on the team.
"I feel like I'm holding gold. It's so important to me and it's going to be framed probably for the rest of my life," said Mamun.
Mamun is a soon-to-be sophomore at Prior Lake High School. She's been battling a brain tumor for several years, receiving treatment at Children's Minnesota. On Monday, she got to sit on the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team practice and then meet the players.
"It was surreal. I've been a fan for a long time and it was just super cool to get up close and personal," Mamun said.
Mamun became a fan of the U.S. Women's Soccer Team within the last few years, but her love of the game started with the Macalester women's soccer team.
She joined their team last season through a partnership with Team Impact — a national organization that creates bonds between college sports teams and youth with chronic conditions.
Mamun attends as many practices, games and team bonding activities as she can. Soccer brings much-needed joy to her life.
"It's hard to find the light in some of these situations. I've been doing this for 13 years at this point, and it does get challenging to find the good things," said Mamun.
But this moment is one of the good things. It's a reminder that big dreams are possible to achieve in all aspects of life.
"It was inspirational to just kind of go for it, play for what I want and be a good person," Mamun said.
Mamun finished her fifth chemo round a little less than a year ago. Her doctors at Children's Minnesota haven't seen any significant change in her tumor growth. She hopes it continues to stay dormant.
