Basketball Community Rallies to Help Hunter – Avon Middle-Schooler with Cancer – Pay for Medical Costs

Fathers and sons from the Avon area – about 40 in total – took to the courts at Avon High School March 19 to not only play basketball but also raise money for an Avon Middle School athlete with a rare form of cancer.

Hunter, 13, an eighth-grader at the middle school has been playing basketball since fifth grade.Toward the beginning of the fall season in October, he began noticing pain, which his mother, Deb Miller said she initially chalked up to growing pains. But when his parents brought him to the doctor in January, they learned he had a tumor in his left tibia. It was a rare form of osteosarcoma.

Avon parents David Ford and Sam Muni, who both have children on Avon travel basketball teams, organized the Hunter Miller Father-Son Tournament to raise money to defray Hunter's medical costs. They raised at least $9,000.

“They just heard Hunter, who is also a basketball player, was going through this and they just wanted to do something to help and show their support," Deb Miller, Hunter's mom said.

Hunter, who is 5 feet, 10 inches tall, natually gravitated toward basketball because of his height, Deb Miller said. She describes her son as a people person who gets his energy from being around others. Sports give him that environment and he is also a former Avon Little League player and baseball lover.

While he didn't play Tuesday and will likely no longer be able to play contact sports, Hunter was at the tournament.

On March 21, Avon Middle School dedicated its annual faculty-student game to Hunter and raising money for his medical costs, as well. The event was dubbed Hoops for Hunter.

Editor's Note: This article was last updated on March 25, 2013.