Devoted Phillies fan defies odds against cancer, hopes she can be a good luck charm as Phillies take on Astros
Devoted Phillies fan defies odds against cancer, hopes she can be a good luck charm as Phillies take on Astros
74-year-old Jackie DeWitt truly believes she was born a Philadelphia Phillies fan and after defying the odds against her stage four cancer diagnosis, she's hoping she can be a good luck charm as the Phillies head to the World Series.
PHILADELPHIA - "Fan" is an understatement when describing 74-year-old, Jackie DeWitt, who truly believes she was born a Philadelphia Phillies fan.
"If you’re a Phillies fan, you’ve gotta’ be a Phillies fan for life, it’s a lifetime commitment," DeWitt said. "If it’s in your blood, it’s in your blood, and you’re really stuck."
FOX 29's Kelly Rule sat with DeWitt as she pulled out just one of her Phillies storage bins, which carries decades of Phillies mementos that are in tip-top shape: magazines, programs, newspaper articles, tickets, baseball cards, even a Phillies ashtray. If you name it, she probably has it. She also has a story, or a fun fact, for every memento.
DeWitt says her home decor consists of only three things: Phillies, her grandkids, and Mickey Mouse. Her grandkids, of course, were born as Phillies fans. They didn't have a choice, according to DeWitt.
"My grandkids are like, ‘Why do you like baseball so much? Why do you like sports so much?’ And I’m like, 'When I was younger, girls didn’t have a chance to play sports,’" she said. "Whatever you can’t do, you back, so I’ve always loved baseball. My gang is totally brainwashed, totally brainwashed."
In 1964, DeWitt was a sophomore in high school, and she says she spent that year saving up her babysitting money so that she could go to every Phillies home game. Every day after the games, DeWitt says she would show up to school hoarse from shouting so much.
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Although the Phillies broke fans hearts and failed to reach the World Series, DeWitt says she saved the then-pre-printed tickets and has prayed with them every year, hoping that her team would get another chance to go. She didn’t expect that chance to come this year, but if anyone knows a thing or two about defying odds, it's her.
In December 2020, after breaking her back during an accident at school, where she worked as a teachers aid for more than 40 years, an MRI revealed a stage four cancer diagnosis. Doctors gave her two to three months to live. Now, almost two years later, she's still fighting.
"I said, ‘I’m not doing it. I’m not done yet. I’m not done raising Cain, I’m not done enjoying my grandkids, and I’m definitely not done enjoying baseball.’"
And that’s exactly what she’s doing.
"Like they say Fightin’ Phils, I’m fighting too. We fight together, different reasons, but we fight together," she said. "I’m still here, I’m still going, and I’m going to get to see these guys do it again."