While playing basketball at Canyon High School, Angel Hayden met one of her biggest fans and friends: Tatum Schulte, who was just 7 years old.
Tatum was the daughter of Canyon boys basketball coach Travis Schulte, and he said there was a unique bond between Angel and both of his daughters.
“As soon as (Angel) showed an interest in both of them, they just began to love her. So it was a pretty cool thing to watch the relationships grow,” he said.
The same year that Angel and Tatum met, Tatum was diagnosed with a type of bone cancer called Osteosarcoma. Despite going through that, Tatum kept a positive and living spirit that inspired Angel.
“She impacted me because she was just so strong through everything, and she was always pushing me,” Hayden said. “Everyone knows that was just crazy for me because she was just so sick, yet she was still just pushing for me to be the best.”
Tatum passed away in October 2017, just weeks before Angel’s first collegiate game with the Texas Tech Lady Raiders. But, with every squeak of the floor and every dribble of the basketball, Hayden still feels her presence with her.
“I’m always writing TLT on my wrist right before practice or right before games, and it always reminds me that she is with me,” Hayden said. “Whether she was here or her spirit is here, she is always with me. I believe that I started getting better when she passed, because I always felt her there with me and she always told me that I got it, and just to believe that I got this. So it has been a great thing because she impacted me on and off the court and it has been great feeling her with me every game.”
The Texas Tech Red Lady Raiders have three home games left on the season, including a game against West Virginia on Saturday.
(Story from myhighplains.com)
