Ball State University Athletics
Women's Golfer Ashtyn Brown on Golf Channel Thursday
November 23, 2011 | Women's Golf
Ashtyn Brown, a freshman member of the Ball State women's golf team, will be featured on the Golf Channel Thursday at 6 p.m.
Brown, an 18-year-old from Richmond, Ind., has fought acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) twice. She was first diagnosed in July 1999 and again three years later. In both cases, her treatment at Riley Hospital for Children involved two-and-a-half years of chemotherapy, plus radiation after her relapse. A life-threatening fungal infection prevented Brown from undergoing a bone marrow or stem cell transplant, although many matches were found. A trial medication proved to be a miracle drug that helped her overcome daunting odds.
Brown, an ambassador for Riley Children's Hospital, never forgets the champions in her life - the staff at Riley Hospital, especially the late Dr. Jeffrey Goldman, and the other Riley kids who became her close friends, some of whom lost their own battles against leukemia.
One of those patients, former Ball State men's golf student-athlete Justin Cross, became the inspiration in Brown's life. Cross, also from Richmond, was diagnosed with leukemia one year after Brown, and they often crossed paths during treatment. He was a senior golfer at Ball State when he died. He provided Brown with his scorecard keeper and a card depicting a monarch butterfly. To this day, Brown does not play a round of golf without the memento or seeing a monarch butterfly. She dedicates her opportunity to play golf at Ball State to Cross.
