High School Football Team Surprise Cheerleader Battling Leukemia With Orange Roses

The hashtag #AshleyStrong has been making the waves in honor of Palo Cedro, California, Foothill High School cheerleader Ashley Adamietz. But why?

Last Friday, as the Foothill Cougars football team made their way onto the field for the game, each member of the 57-strong team walked by the line of cheerleaders as they always did, but this time, they each laid an orange rose at the feet of Adamietz. The senior cheerleader was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in early August, attending chemotherapy ever since, and the orange roses were meant to raise Leukemia awareness.

Head Coach Joey Brown told KRCR News that the entire idea belonged to #55 Ryan Caetano, and as such, “We took care of family business, before we took care of business on the field.”

Cougar Football = FAMILY #ashleystrong pic.twitter.com/KvdOTF0Acs

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— Joey Brown (@CoachBrown_FHS) September 3, 2016

Adamietz took to Twitter to express her emotions and her thanks to her team:

The video has been viewed over five million times and thousands have come out in support of Adamietz. A crowd-funding page has been created for those who would like to help her in her continuing fight against Leukemia.