Standing up for their cause

Diontae Johnson
Cause: UPMC Magee Womens Hospital of Pittsburgh

Diontae Johnson doesn’t have a lot of memories of his mother. And it hurts. It hurts deeper than he even admits.

You can see it when he talks about her, when he tries to recall the moments with her. But the moments were too few, and he was too young to even remember most of them.

Johnson lost his mother, Felicia Boyer, when he was only five years old. Boyer had a tough battle with breast cancer, a battle she lost at just 24 years old.

In both cases, they were too young. Too young to lose her life, too young for him to lose his mother, to understand what losing his mother was even about.

And to this day, it’s still tough to understand.

“I remember little things about my mom,” said Johnson. “Even though she was sick and going through stuff, she would act like nothing was going on. She was a strong person.

“I asked how she passed as a kid, but I didn’t go into depth about it because I was young and didn’t understand it all.”

It’s that pain, that sadness that has Johnson wanting to bring attention to breast cancer awareness, supporting UPMC Magee Womens Hospital of Pittsburgh with his cleats.

While he might not have understood cancer, the impact it could have, he did see some of the effects it had on his mom. He didn’t realize it then, but he does now, that she never let him know how bad it was, protecting and shielding her young kids.

“She was getting weaker and weaker. She was losing a lot of weight,” recalled Johnson. “She was a diabetic too, so that took a toll on her. Her body couldn’t take that much. She was so young and doing the best she could. She had a lot to deal with.”

One memory Johnson does have is one he would like to forget, the day his father, Leo Johnson, had to deliver the news no child wants to hear.

“I was coming home from school one day,” said Johnson. “My dad picked us up and told us our mom was gone. I didn’t know how to react. Just hearing that hurt real bad.”

Johnson paused for a moment,…