Millard North basketball senior wears unique shoes to support faculty member battling cancer

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - There’s no shortage of fancy footwear on the Millard North boys basketball team.

Their shoe game is almost as impressive as the Mustangs’ actual game—and that’s saying something. They’re the No. 2 seed in the Class A state tournament this week.

Senior Neal Mosser, for example, has more than 40 pairs of sneakers. But on gameday, there is only one option.

“I’ve got one choice, and it’s the green Steph Currys I wear for Mrs. Folk,” he said.

Kathy Folk is the athletic secretary at Millard North. She is also battling blood cancer for the fourth time.

“I was diagnosed on Friday, April 13, 2012 with non-Hodgkins lymphoma,” she said, emphasizing the Friday and the thirteenth. “In the year 2016 and 2017, I was bald. Those kids are gone. Now the kids here—most of them don’t know I’m going through cancer unless they know my story.”

They primarily know Kathy, and her husband Tom, as the rowdy couple in the crowd at basketball games.

“We make every game that we possibly can,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s home or away. We’re there.”

Last year, Kathy’s treatment made it hard to attend games at times. With a less rigorous chemotherapy round this year, she’s been able to be a regular presence again at The Stable.

“She could be thinking about herself trying to get better, but she’s thinking about us and how she can support us and build us up,” Mosser said. “Just her support every single game is huge in my heart.”

So in November, he decided it was time to return the favor. He ordered a pair of Curry Flow 10s in lime green and asked her to sign them. On the outside edges of the heel, she wrote her name. On the inside, she added her cancer journey motto: No one fights alone.

“For her to know that people are standing with her in her journey, it’s very important and I feel like it’s a confidence booster for everybody,” Mosser added.

Neal is a member of the Green Team, Kathy’s support group made up of students and faculty from over the years. This season, the softball team wore green ribbons and the swim team donned lime swim caps.

“The kids in this building are extremely caring—It’s very humbling,” she admitted. “Sometimes I’m brought to tears. It’s cool. But I like to be the giver, not the receiver. Being the receiver is sometimes hard. But when you need it, you need it.”

Neal is drawing inspiration from Kathy’s fight as the Mustangs prepare for the state tournament. Over the course of the season, the message on his inside of his shoes is wearing away, but the motto continues to drive him.

“The message is fading, but the name is not,” Mosser pointed out, adding that ‘Kathy Folk’ still reads perfectly on the outsides. “The name will never fade but the cancer will. I’m using that as a little source of motivation to keep battling.”

Kathy was accepted to a clinical trial at Nebraska Medical Center in August and has already shown improvement.

“Luckily, right now I feel great. And I plan to feel great for a long time,” she said. “Between travel and grandchildren, I’ve got lots of things to do for the next 30 years. So I’m not going to give up. Ever.”

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