Jaguars' Hines-Allen shares reasons that led him to share his family fight vs. cancer

Just days after the Jacksonville Jaguars opened training camp, star pass rusher Josh Hines-Allen revealed that he and his family went through a difficult journey when his son Wesley was diagnosed with leukemia. He's doing much better and trending toward recovery, which led Hines-Allen to open up about his family's not previously known battle with cancer.

Hines-Allen met with the local media after Day 4 of training camp and said that he chose this moment to open up about Wesley's condition because he had improved. Moreover, having the chance to talk to the press corps would spread awareness.

"Definitely, I think our main goal was to make sure Wesley was healthy first, to really, if he wasn't in a room of like, or he's getting better, to hold it a little bit," Hines-Allen responded when asked why he chose to share Wesley's recovery now (12:33 mark). "So we wanted to make sure that he was in a good position for us to speak about it. Because I know once the word gets out that he's in remission, it's going to be very, more uplifting, more positive."

Hines-Allen continued, "And also, I get to be in front of you guys and talk about it and spread more awareness as much as I can. So our goal was really waiting till he got healthy. And it was just timing was just perfect, and we're here today talking about it."

When asked what his message is, Hines-Allen says that he wants to let families fighting the condition know that they're not alone.

"I mean is that everybody, a lot of people go through it. A lot of people that you may not know in your daily life has had some cancer at a young age, or probably getting it now. That you can always be there to support them, care for them, give them love. because that's really the main focus on people that's going through, that they have people that can help support them and give them love," Hines-Allen said.

"And again, for my foundation, this is to show support. We're contributing to four different organizations throughout the year, so each month is going to be a different organization that we're targeting to help spread more awareness for them and for us as well. So I'm excited about that journey. And this first month is in Nemours, and then we'll start, you know, adding on, and when the season goes on."

Hines-Allen and Kaitlyn Allen, throughout their Four One For All non-profit foundation, are launching a partnership with four hospitals to combat cancer: Nemours Children's Health, American Cancer Society, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Jacksonville, and National Pediatric Cancer Foundation.

During his media availability session, Hines-Allen also noted that his teammates routinely called him to know how Wesley was doing.

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Wesley and Josh Hines-Allen showed rescilience throughout the whole ordeal

Many times, fans don't know what players are going through. Sure, they're professionals who are paid to do their job. However, they have problems like most of us, and many times, those problems are bigger than football. In Josh Hines-Allen's case, he and his family dealt with a situation that was more important than how many sacks he had in a season. Moreover, they did it behind the scenes, without many people knowing about their struggle.

Now, Wesley is doing much better and is closer to full recovery. And having a massive weight lifted off his shoulders, Josh Hines-Allen can work on reaching his lofty expectations for the 2025 season.

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