LOCALS IN THE NFL
Alex Smith’s Daughter Diagnosed With Brain Cancer
SALT LAKE CITY – Former Utah Utes and NFL quarterback Alex Smith’s daughter was diagnosed with brain cancer in May, according to her family.
On Saturday morning, Alex Smith’s wife Elizabeth posted the news on her Instagram page.
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“This is Sloane Kenzington Smith, our baby, the youngest of three and our only girl,” Smith posted on IG with a photo of her daughter. “She is sweet, selfless, intelligent, hilarious, witty, fun-loving, an artist, a singer, and a dancing machine. But most of all she is an incredibly strong girl that has a ton of fight in her. The first picture was taken just a couple of weeks — before our lives changed. On May 10th, Sloane was rushed to the ER with stroke-like symptoms. She had an MRI and the doctors quickly informed us she had a large brain tumor and needed an emergency craniotomy.
“The 10 hour procedure was the most excruciating time of our lives,” Smith’s IG post continued. “A clock has never moved so slowly. The incredible neurosurgeons at Stanford Childrens did a miraculous job and were able to remove 100% of the tumor. Sloane – in her true form – bounced back from brain surgery like a rockstar! She didn’t skip a beat. After weeks of waiting on pathology, we learned that Sloane’s tumor is a very rare malignant tumor with very few documented cases – without a clear road map for treatment.
“We are currently awaiting more tests and gathering as many opinions as we can from doctors across the country to decide the best path forward,” Smith added. “We wish this were easy, clear-cut and someone gave us a how-to guide. It’s anything but that. All we know is what is most important – and that’s SLOANE. She has healed from surgery. Back to her bubbly self. Singing, dancing, laughing and feeling good. I know we don’t post much about our kids but we felt necessary to post this and say THANK YOU.
“Thank you to our amazing medical team, family, friends, acquaintances and even some strangers who have touched our lives in the last month and a half,” Smith continued. “We have struggled to keep up on calls, texts, communication and trying to keep loved ones updated. This has been by the far most challenging time we have EVER been through. We know it’s not over and we have a journey ahead of us, but without all of you we could not have gotten this far. We are sorry if we seem withdrawn. It’s because we are… We have been inundated with doctors appointments, scans, labs and trying our best to navigate through this Most importantly, we’re healing together as a family.”
The Smith family has gone through a lot of trauma and trials recently. Alex recovered from a severe leg injury that he revealed on an E:60 documentary titled “Project 11.”
The former Utah quarterback suffered a broken fibula and tibia during Washington’s game against the Houston Texans on November 18, 2018.
