Browns fan in hospice granted wish to attend game
Tom Seipel, a longtime Cleveland Browns fan with Stage 4 cancer, will be in attendance for the team's crucial game Sunday thanks to the efforts of Baker Mayfield's wife, Emily, and others.
Seipel has been battling kidney cancer for the past three years and is now in hospice at his parents' home in Savannah, Georgia, according to Dan Labbe of Cleveland.com. On Dec. 21, he posted on the Browns' subreddit to share that his doctor had given one or two weeks to live.
A fan named Rawley Davis saw Seipel's post and set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to send him to the Browns' game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and help cover his medical expenses.
"I believe that the Cleveland Browns are lucky to have a man like Tom in their corner," Davis wrote on the GoFundMe page. "His loyalty knows no limits. He has been riding with them from quite literally the beginning to the end. While originally from Columbus, Ohio, Tom is with his family in Savannah, Georgia. Tom's family is battling both cancer and medical bills. In my correspondence with Tom, he said that he would love nothing more than to go to one last Browns game, but money is kind of tight right now."
Davis got in touch with Emily Mayfield, who offered her suite at FirstEnergy Stadium to Seipel. Baker also recorded a message for Seipel.
Seipel was initially reluctant to make the trip to Cleveland but said that after giving some thought to it, he realized he couldn't pass up the opportunity.
"If I'm going to die freezing my butt off at FirstEnergy Stadium, what a way to go out," he told Labbe.
The Browns can secure their first playoff berth since 2002 with a win over the Steelers.