Faith and Spurs lifts spirit of woman with disabilities

Leslie Wilson-Reddell holds up a Spurs shopping bag featuring Manu Ginobili. Leslie Wilson-Reddell holds up a Spurs shopping bag featuring Manu Ginobili. Photo: Marvin Pfeiffer / Southside Reporter Photo: Marvin Pfeiffer / Southside Reporter Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Faith and Spurs lifts spirit of woman with disabilities 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

During the San Antonio Spurs games, Leslie Wilson-Reddell rocks back and forth on a sofa sleeper, lost in her role as an armchair sixth Spur.

Her eyes stay fixated on the television from tip off until the last seconds tick away. Like a pious churchgoer, she clasps her hands together, perched on the edge of her seat, yelling her signature Twitter and Facebook sign off, “Go Spurs Go!”

“Come on, come on!” she says, as her team swings the ball from player to player until the net swishes and the Spurs' score is on the rise. “Yeah baby! Thank Jesus!”

And if the unthinkable happens and her team loses, she stays upbeat.

“Good job, fellas,” she says. “Don't worry about it — we'll get the next one.”

Wilson-Reddell, 43, is a devout disciple of the silver and black. Family members said Coach Gregg Popovich's and the Spurs' philosophy of sharing the load and not complaining is evident in Wilson-Reddell's own life.

It has not been an easy road.

Born with spina bifida, she's struggled with the deformity of both feet and recurring ulcers since she was a child. Most of her school years through college were spent using a walker or in a wheelchair. Still, she persevered. She moved to Dallas and began working at a medical facility. In May 2012, she and her sweetheart, Lewis Reddell, were married. They moved back to San Antonio with an eye toward buying their first home together.

But last August, Wilson-Reddell's older sister died of ovarian cancer. Two months later, Wilson-Reddell was diagnosed with colon cancer. After partial colon removal, her doctor scheduled chemotherapy treatments. She didn't get to start, however, because her husband of less than two years suffered a massive heart attack. She postponed her chemo to care for him. Just 14 days later the man she called her best friend died.

Still numb from the loss of her sister, she barely had time to start grieving her husband when her doctor said she could no longer wait on the chemotherapy. She started 6-hour chemo treatments and 48-hour home infusion sessions.

On May 17, her left leg had to be amputated below the knee because of infection.

More Information



Give Forward

But, through it all, Wilson-Reddell's spirit has remained unquenchable. Awed family members say it's her faith in God and her beloved Spurs that keep her going. “She just gets so happy and her face lights up when she talks about the game,” said Christine Cupina, her sister. “It's definitely something that's part of her life; it's a natural part of what she likes to do.”

Her nephew, Ross Wilson, drives Wilson-Reddell to her chemo treatments. He said during her hospital stay for the amputation, she asked doctors to reschedule her medication so she wouldn't be groggy during her team's games.

“She wanted to be cognitive to watch the game,” Wilson, 33, said.

Before starting her treatments, she was able to save enough money for Spurs tickets. She took her nephew's wife and their two children to a regular season game with the Memphis Grizzlies. She still raves about the live experience.

Wilson said as long as he can remember, his aunt has loved sports. She chided him during the start of Western Conference finals when he scoffed about the Spurs. At one of her chemo treatments, she told him that when her team beat the Oklahoma City Thunder he'd have to wear a Spurs T-shirt. He now has a Kawhi Leonard jersey.

“They don't trash talk, they always lift each other up,” Wilson-Reddell said, of the Spurs. “A lot of that goes with Pop.”

Wilson-Reddell had been working for the medical facility from home since she moved to San Antonio with her husband, but hasn't been able to put in much time because of her illnesses, Cupina said. The games give her sister a respite from the worry of hospital bills totaling in the tens of thousands.

“The family is helping,” she said, “but it's more than we all can handle.”

Cupina, other family and friends created a Giveforward fundraising site for Wilson-Reddell to help with medical care expenses, hospital bills and the cost of a prosthetic leg.

For now, Wilson-Reddell lives with her 73-year-old father, Jerry Wilson, in his South Side trailer. He helps care for her after treatments, but doesn't get much sleep doing the Spurs night games, kept up by his daughter's cheers.

During the finals, she'll have a front row seat again, in front of her TV, doing her part to will her team and favorite player, Tim Duncan, to victory over LeBron James and the Miami Heat.

“Last season was just a heartbreaker,” she said. “I'd like to see them get revenge. I have a strong faith.”

vtdavis@express-news.net