STOCKTON, Calif. (KTXL) – Miles Lima is the voice of the Tigers, singing the national anthem at almost every sporting event Pacific hosts on its college campus.
“There is no way that this deep voice is that of a 14-year old,” said Alec Ehlers, Pacific’s director of athletics marketing and fan engagement. “It’s crazy.”
In a good way.
And that is why Ehlers keeps inviting him to come back.
“I kind of get to do this a different way every time,” said Lima. “Really explore the song, when I have done this hundreds of times.”
“You hear him the first time, and you have to take a look back and say, ‘who is that?’ says Ehlers. “He is definitely a head-turner in that sense.”
Miles Lima began singing when he was seven years old, as a way to lift his spirits through the tough times.
“He was our first-born child, and seeing him struggle with his battle with cancer, but he always kept a high level of joy in his life,” said Kenny Lima, Miles’ father. “He didn’t really succumb to it.”
At just two months old, Miles Lima was diagnosed with retinoblastoma. According to the American Cancer Society, that is “a cancer that starts in the retina, the very back part of the eye. It is the most common type of eye cancer in children.”
“Eventually, because of that, both of my eyes had to be removed,” said Lima. “In order to access the tumors, to surgically remove those.”
Miles Lima is completely blind, though he is now cancer-free and has been for four years.
In addition to singing, Lima also plays piano, directs a choir and writes songs for two bands of which he is a member.
“One of the things that definitely has made things easier is the fact that I was losing my vision very gradually over the course of seven-ish years,” said Lima. “This was definitely not a situation where I went to bed one night and woke up the next day and couldn’t see. I was able to adapt to whatever I had at the time.”
Adapt at school, and at events at University of the Pacific where he loves the atmosphere.
“He taught us that every day is a gift,” said his father, Kenny Lima. “He has a whole community behind him.”
Vanessa Romo
Source link
