Spring Break
Heroic Hester receives Most Courageous Athlete Award
Mike Mazzeo
Issue date: 1/30/09 Section: Sports
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She could not fathom that her name could be mentioned in the same breath as legends like Mickey Mantle and Ben Hogan.
But who could blame her?
After all, Hester is not a professional athlete. She did not hit 536 career home runs like Mantle. She did not win nine major championships like Hogan. And you will not find her in any Hall of Fame.
However, Hester does have one common bond with Mantle and Hogan: the ability to overcome adversity and persevere - and thanks to the recognition of the Philadelphia Sports Writer's Association, her name will be synonymous with theirs forever.
Hester, a senior forward on the women's basketball team who was forced to sit out the entire 2006-07 season while undergoing treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma, only to make a miraculous recovery and return to the court a year later, received the Most Courageous Athlete Award at the 105th Annual PSWA Awards Banquet Jan. 26 at the Crowne Plaza in Cherry Hill, N.J.
The award, which has been presented annually by the PSWA since 1936, is considered the association's highest honor. Others notable athletes who have won the award besides Mantle and Hogan include Roy Campanella, Jim Abbott and Tom Dempsey.
"I don't even know where to start," Hester said. "It's an honor to even put in the category for this award. It's probably my biggest award ever. The people behind it, just the names behind it, make me feel like it's out of my league."
Hester's battle is well-documented.
While gearing up for what would have been her junior season in the fall of 2006, Hester began noticing that she was feeling strangely fatigued after practices. Lumps started forming in her throat and she could not turn her neck.
Hester's mother, concerned with her daughter's health, decided to have her return home and see a doctor. After going through a series of tests, a biopsy revealed that Hester had Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of lung cancer. She missed all of the 2006-07 season while undergoing and enduring six months of chemotherapy, three months of radiation treatment and an intense recovery program.
Hester lost her hair and her strength, but she never lost her will to live.
Despite once fearing that she might not ever be able to play again, Hester defied the long odds against her, beat cancer, returned to her team and appeared in 26 games in 2007-08, making 21 starts while finishing fourth on her team in scoring.
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