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Starla Chapman with AJ McCarron at a Mobile BayBears' baseball game on May 4, 2013, at Hank Aaron Stadium in Mobile, Ala. (Courtesy of the Chapman family)

In "AJ McCarron's Special Bond," ESPN detailed the relationship between the Alabama quarterback and a 4-year-old Bay Minette girl on its "College GameDay" program on Saturday.

Starla Chapman, the daughter of Korey and DeAndra Chapman of Bay Minette, was diagnosed with leukemia in September 2011. Her recovery is an uplifting story by itself. But layered onto her comeback - and some might surmise even a part of it - is her relationship with McCarron, the former prep star at St. Paul's in Mobile.

Starla met the quarterback on Christmas Eve 2011 at South Alabama Children's and Women's Hospital in Mobile. The ESPN story relates how McCarron had been in the same hospital as a 5-year-old after being badly injured in a jet-ski accident.

McCarron's mother, Dee Bonner, tells how her son's diagnosis was grim, and she describes him now as "just a little miracle."

For his part, McCarron says God gave him a second chance: "He had me here for a reason."

As captured on video, Starla gave McCarron a rubber wristband while he was at the hospital, and he told her he would wear it in the Crimson Tide's next game, the BCS national championship game against LSU.

But before that game, Starla went into cardiac arrest on Jan. 3, 2012. She wound up on life support in a medically induced coma. Her parents were told to expect the worst.

Starla's parents watched the BCS title game from their stricken daughter's bedside. They saw the yellow wristband on McCarron's arm. Starla's father called it "very special," and her mother said she whispered to her daughter: "He's wearing your bracelet."

The wristband, symbolic of Starla's struggle - and that of all young cancer victims -- for life, sparked a national curiosity followed by an outpouring of support for Team Starla. She was on her way to becoming another "little miracle."

The relationship between Starla and McCarron has continued. The quarterback is now her godfather.

The Chapmans' experience with Starla led them to start the Proverbs 3:5 Foundation this summer. McCarron's mother is the president of the foundation's Board of Directors.

"The Proverbs 3:5 Foundation was, of course, inspired by Starla," DeAndra Chapman said. "Proverbs 3:5 is the scripture, 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.' And that's basically what she told us the day before she started her chemo, which was, 'Just trust.' We just referenced that to that Bible verse.

"We look for different ways to give back and help out people just like us, but not just those who have a child with cancer --people that are at the hospital because their child has a life-threatening illness or babies that are born prematurely, too. We know what it's like to be in the hospital unable to work. It's just something to provide those families with some type of aid, anything from paying a bill -- a light bill at their house, a water bill at their house -- or getting together and taking a meal over to the hospital for them. It's in the plans to provide a source of entertainment -- let's just say a balloon magician could visit the hospital for the kids one day. Just something to keep the kids entertained, but also to aid the families while they're in the hospital with the kids.

"Speaking from experience, during the time Starla was in the hospital, my husband tried to go to work, but when she got real critical, he wasn't able to work."

The Proverbs 3:5 Foundation has scheduled its first event - the Happy Feet Childhood Cancer Awareness Walk at 9 a.m. Sept. 14 at the Eastern Shore Center in Spanish Fort.

"We started out with meetings this summer, kind of trying to get the ball rolling," Chapman said. "We were in agreement that our first event should be held in September, which is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. We all voted on a walk to get our name out there and to let people know that the foundation is here to help."

The Proverbs 3:5 Foundation notes the walk is "to honor the fighters and the survivors, and in memory of those who won the battle on the other side." The organizers encourage walkers to wear gold in support of childhood-cancer awareness and to bring signs and banners to support children battling cancer.

Registration costs $15. Children 5 and younger can walk for free. Those registered by Monday will receive a Happy Feet Walk T-shirt.

Walkers can register online through midnight Sept. 12. Day-of-event registration will be held from 7 to 7:45 a.m. at the Eastern Shore Center. Day-of-event registration will cost $20.