Recently, Berkley’s head football Coach, Coach Shields’ four-year-old daughter Saylor, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Coach Shields’ daughter, Saylor has a close connection to many of the players on the Berkley Football team. According to many of the football players, she has the cutest personality and is very fun to be around according to many of the football players. The unfortunate news of Saylor’s diagnosis had a significant impact on the Berkley community. She had a terrifying cause of events, such as bone marrow biopsy, and her oxygen levels kept dropping, which are all very costly. As a result, Ashley Straub, one of the Shields family’s good friends made a GoFundMe page to lead to Saylor’s recovery.
Berkley football players such as Max Walstad, Isaac Dawkins, Nolan Wesner, and David Rolands decided to shave their heads after Saylor was treated with chemotherapy which made her lose her hair. They all stand with Saylor and didn’t want her to go through it alone. Out of the compassion and sympathy of their hearts, they buzzed their heads. Coach Shields would sometimes bring Saylor to the weight room after school. Saylor would play tag with the football team in the weight room. According to Wesner, “Saylor is so fun to be around, and the reason I shaved my head was to make sure my coach and Saylor know that they aren’t alone.” This is what leads to the guys having a personal connection and relationship with Saylor.
Walstad went from a full head of hair to a buzz cut for Saylor. Walstad states that the reason he shaved his head was “because no bear fights alone, so when she started losing her hair due to chemo, Dawkins, Rolands, and Wesner and I decided to shave our heads in support of her.” The slogan “No Bear Fights Alone” was put on the T-shirts for her to raise money for her treatments. This saying was a massive inspiration to all and made many people in the Berkley community do whatever they could do to help the Shields family out, show support to them, and prove that they aren’t alone. To go along with this, Rolands stated “My friends and I shaved our heads because we know how hard it is as a parent and as a patient to have to deal with such a terrible thing so we decided to shave our heads to let our head coach know they aren’t alone.”
All in all the football players just wanted to show that the Shields family is supported through this hard time. “Saylor is so cheerful and is a ball of energy” says Dawkins, which makes it so easy to love her and wish her the best. Saylor is a warrior and is so strong. SAYLOR STRONG!!!! Here is a link to the gofundme for Saylor: https://www.gofundme.com/f/saylors-recovery-with-leukemia