NFL Player Asks for Prayers as He Announces His Wife Has Been Diagnosed with Cancer
Navigating the difficulties that come with an NFL training camp is hard enough. Doing it just after finding out your wife has cancer? Unfathomable.
But that’s exactly what Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Kyle Peko will attempt to do this summer.
Peko was absent as the Bills kicked off training camp Thursday but made the difficult announcement via Instagram.
“Some may know and some may not but my wife was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma about a month ago,” he wrote. “I would ask all of you to please pray for her and our family and send just positive vibes our way!”
Peko said he and his wife, Giuliana, are “faith driven and what is presented with us and what is set ahead is all apart of his PERFECT PLAN!”
Giuliana was diagnosed roughly two months after she found a lump on her neck.
“As i sit here writing this, it still doesn’t seem real,” she wrote on Instagram at the time. “What i do know is that i will get through this but what i ask is for your prayers because i know it’ll be hard.”
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Peko arrived at Bills training camp in Pittsford, New York, in time for Friday’s practice at the behest of Giuliana.
“To be honest, she’s the one who told me to get back out here, she told me not to miss [camp],” Peko said after Friday’s practice, according to ESPN. ‘It’s crazy that I’m here, but it’s her, she wouldn’t have it any other way.’
Peko is in his first year with the Bills, having spent the first three seasons of his NFL career with the Denver Broncos. Despite being a new face, he’s already getting plenty of support.
“I wanted to say how appreciative I am of Kyle Peko coming to camp. We’re all human and we go through challenges, but the challenge Kyle and his family are facing is certainly a significant one. I want to let his family know that we are with them all the way,” Bills head coach Sean McDermott said.
According to the Buffalo News, Bills owner Terry Pegula made a point to find Peko at Friday’s practice and offered some words of support.
Peko expressed his appreciation for the support he has received from Bills management. “As soon as I told them the news, football comes second to family,” he said. “They were all about me doing what I had to do, taking care of my family.
“I couldn’t have asked for anything more. This camp is that time of year when everybody is trying to be out here grinding to make this team. They were super understanding, and I appreciate it. Hats off to them.”
Peko is a long shot to make Buffalo’s roster, with first-round draft pick Ed Oliver and returning veterans like Star Lotulelei and Harrison Phillips ahead of him at his position, but you can bet he’ll have an army of people pulling for him to succeed.
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