GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio — It's batter up on the field at Garfield Heights Middle School, but the kids aren't going for glory today. Instead of celebrating a victory, they're celebrating the life of a 5-year-old girl.
"Last year, we had lost a young girl, Skylar O’Neal, from a rare form of brain cancer," Kurt Mariola, head varsity softball coach at Garfield Heights High School, said.
Skylar O'Neal often practiced her best imitations of her favorite cartoon characters from "Paw Patrol," but at just 3 years old, she was diagnosed with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer affecting soft tissue in the body. For Skylar, it formed inside her brain.
"The hospital was basically our second home,” Skylar's mother Kristina O'Neal told us. "We tried to make her life as normal as we could."
The Rev. Mark Smith, who is also a member of Garfield Heights City Council, has fond memories of Skylar's happy demeanor.
"I remember Skylar would come into the church, and whenever the music was playing, you could look over and see the joy in her face," he said, "in spite of what she was going through."
"She's the strongest person I've ever seen," father Terrence O'Neal Sr. added. "Her strength gave me strength, as well as her mother, her brothers, and the rest of the family."
Just before Garfield Heights squared off against Akron North on Friday, players paid their respects to the girl who should have grown up to be just like them. The team previously visited her in a parade, marching by her house just days before her death. They gave her a jersey of her own with the No. 13, her favorite number.
"We got to see her one last time," Mariola said, "so we thought we'd have a game in her memory."
Skylar's legacy with the team will be forever cherished, as the team has decided to retire her lucky No. 13 jersey.
"As long as I'm head coach here, no one is going to wear 13 anymore," Mariola declared. "That was her favorite number."
Want to be among the first to know the most important local and national news? The latest sports updates? We've got you covered! You can download the free WKYC app and get the latest updates sent to your phone: Android, Apple.