Erik Tillisch is an FC Dallas fan and season ticket holder. On Tuesday he was at the team's practice in Frisco, hoping to inspire others battling cancer.
"The surgeon examined me and felt a lump in my chest," Tillisch said recalling his summer diagnosis. "It turned out to be stage-2 breast cancer."
Tillisch went to a match over the summer with a sign asking FC Dallas player Paul Arriola to give him his 'cancer shirt', a shirt with a choice word about cancer that Arriola wore in support of his mother-in-law's cancer battle. Arriola handed the shirt over to Tillisch. It was with him from his first chemotherapy treatment to his last.
On Tuesday after practice, Tillisch gave the shirt back to Arriola.
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"I wrote a little message on the back saying be sad for a moment, be inspired and fight for a lifetime," Tillisch said as he handed back the shirt. "Hopefully the next person can do the same."
'I didn't think that this shirt would make the impact that it did," Arriola said. "That's what life's about. It's about perspective and this is a great message to give to others to keep fighting, to keep believing in themselves."
"This means so much more than winning a game," Arriola said.
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"This is winning at life," Tillisch added.
