JONATHAN (BIG COUNTRY) O'MALLEY
Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Jonathan O’Malley does things his own way. He’s the kind of guy who marches to the beat of his own drum. So in some way, it should not be too surprising that the honoree who is probably most excited about the 6 v. 6 tournament has never played soccer or even been to game!
Jonathan is not a soccer guy. He is a hunting, fishing, and outdoors guy. Until he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia he thought Dynamo sounded like a type of outboard motor you put on your fishing boat.
But then he met Houston Dynamo Midfielder Brad Davis on one of Davis’s many visits to see cancer patients. “I met Brad and we must have talked for an hour,” says Jonathan. “We both love the outdoors. It is just amazing to meet a professional athlete who is so down to earth and so kind. He became my friend even though I know almost nothing about soccer.”
Now watching Dynamo games is one of Jonathan’s favorite pastimes, “Brad and the rest of the guys are amazing, they work so hard.” He also enjoyed meeting players from the Rice University Soccer team. “I think a few of them have crushes on me,” he says with a sly smile. “They like the fact I can play the guitar and cross-stich.”
Jonathan knows a lot about hard work too. He knows how hard you have to work to beat cancer and how nice it is to have friends like Brad Davis who work hard to support you – even if you never really liked soccer.
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