Mickelson's cancer hits home with the game's fans
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The e-mails came from all over.
Australia. Norway. The Dominican Republic. Argentina. New Zealand. Canada. Ireland. Spain. England. Dubai. Iceland. Not to mention, nearly every state in the good old USA.
Thursday morning, less than 24 hours after the news that Amy Mickelson had breast cancer sent waves of shock through the golf community, more than 500 people had sent messages of support to her through PGATOUR.COM. And as this column is written, even more arrive.
Some messages are as simple as a subject line that reads "our thoughts and prayers are with the Mickelson family." Many others were extremely personal, though, from cancer survivors like my mom and dad and the people like me who love them dearly.
One particularly perceptive gentleman from Canada may have explained the outpouring of support the best.
"Having cancer in our family and watching family members cope, struggle and persevere over this disease brings a kinship that is hard to explain," he wrote. "When the news was relayed to the world of Amy and her diagnosis, those that have struggled with cancer feel a heartfelt pause, and instinctively we pray and hope that all goes well."
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Most of the e-mails are from golf fans, of course. Ministers have weighed in with blessings, though; oncologists and radiologists with words of comfort. So have military personnel, undoubtedly aware of the support Amy and her husband Phil provide to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation and Homes for our Troops, as well as the mother of an educator who attended the ExxonMobile Teachers Academy run in partnership with the Mickelsons' foundation.
"If all the charitable work they have done is any indication of what is to come then I feel strongly they will get through with flying colors," one person wrote.
Just ask the 5,000 children in San Diego who have been able to buy school supplies and clothing through the Phil and Amy Mickelson Foundation's Start Smart program. Or the Hurricane Katrina survivors who have been aided by more than $750,000 in donations the Mickelsons made after Mother Nature bore down on New Orleans with a vengeance.
Prayers were answered in those cases just as everyone hopes the Mickelsons now will be.
The common theme to these many e-mails is hope. Like the one from the family who has had a re-birth ceremony for every one of the more than 30 years the wife/mother has survived. Or the man who wrote about his mother, a 45-year breast cancer survivor.
"One of the most important things I saw as an 11-year-old was the support and love my dad gave to her," he said.
A 14-year-old AJGA golfer named Zach, who just missed in his U.S. Open local qualifying bid, wrote to Amy. He already has helped raise more than $60,000 for cancer research. His mom is recovering from colon cancer and he has his own Web site: zachattackscancer.com.
"Please stay positive for your friends, family, and fans," he wrote. "We are pulling for you! ... I can always motivate you if you need it."
A woman, this one also named Amy, explained that she had her picture taken with Phil when her husband played in a fund-raising event several years ago. She turned the photo into a Christmas card. She's now a three-year survivor of breast cancer who is about to do a three-day, 60-mile walk in Boston to raise money to fight the disease.
"Keep the faith and just do what they tell you," she wanted to tell Amy. "Some times it is really difficult to go on but obviously worth it. I continue to feel blessed every single day. I would obviously have preferred to skip that whole piece of my life, but feel that I am stronger because of it.
"Good luck to you as you take on one of life's biggest challenges -- it makes the Masters seem like a kickball game. Be tough, be strong, accept help and support from family and friends, think of seeing your kids grow up and seeing your grandchildren. I did it and know that you can, too."
Another woman wrote to tell Amy, who is expected to have major surgery within two weeks, that she embraced each part of her treatment as an adventure. CAT scans became a circus cannon waiting to shoot her into the sky and radiation treatments a day to meet friends for lunch or go to the theater. Funny books were a must for chemotherapy.
"I suppose it is a bit scary but through it I have become a stronger person and now enjoy every day without complaint," she said. "I promise it's not so bad as you think. Be positive, it works."
The Mickelsons and their three children have been added to so many prayer lists, it's staggering. People have sent their favorite Bible verses and exhorted her to follow Jim Valvano's immortal words: "Don't give up; don't ever give up." One fan has even started a Facebook page: "Praying for Amy Mickelson."
"Please know that even though there is a disconnect between celebrities and their fans, Phil has done a wonderful job of crossing that line to get to know his fans and that will lead to strength in numbers in your battle," one e-mail said.
"There is no way that Amy Mickelson cannot win this event especially with someone like Phil as her caddy and the rest of the golf world rooting for her," another agreed.
For more than a decade, though, the former Phoenix Suns cheerleader has been as much a presence in Mickelson's golfing universe as his caddy, Jim (Bones) Mackay. Amy's in his gallery while he plays and amenable to the overtures of fans she meets along the way.
Among the lasting images after each of Phil's three major championships are the photos of Amy and their three cherubic children rushing onto the green to congratulate him. Their first was born the day after Phil finished second to Payne Stewart at the 1999 U.S. Open with Amy back home fending off labor pains.
So many of those e-mails have encouraged Amy to rely on that strength as she embarks on this most personal of struggles. One, though, looked at her health crisis from a very different perspective.
"Men who are in love with their wives fear this news more than anything," he wrote. "We worry, we stress, we cry behind closed doors, we really don't want to talk about it at all. We need a champion like you to show us the way. Teach us how to react, show us how to really help. Make us better husbands.
"This letter probably sounds just like a man. Here you are with a life-threatening situation and all I can think about is you helping me but I know that's the kind of person you are. Phil is a very blessed man to have you as a wife. God bless."
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