Pontotoc child gets opportunity to cheer for college football game

OXFORD, Miss. (WCBI) – A 4-year-old leukemia survivor got a special opportunity to experience life as a college cheerleader.

Pontotoc native Rowan Neff was the honorary cheer captain for the Ole Miss Rebels this weekend at the school’s game against New Mexico State.

Neff has spent the last two and a half years at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis undergoing treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Rowan was diagnosed in February 2017 with the form of leukemia, which is usually curable but requires a lengthy treatment period. She spent the first three months living in Memphis to be close to St. Jude. The last phase involved more than 100 treatments, which required the family to drive two hours each way from their home in Pontotoc to Memphis every Monday.

The young girl and her family found out she was cancer-free in September.

The Neff family was the recipient of the 2019 Ole Miss Wish. The Ole Miss Student Veterans Association organizes the event each year to honor a military family facing a life-threatening illness. Rowan’s father, Chris Neff, is a member of the Mississippi Army National Guard and a 2007 Ole Miss grad.

The family also walked with the Ole Miss football team during the Walk of Champions and met head coach Matt Luke.