Entire volleyball district gives up their warm-up colors for Harlee

There are many heart-wrenching stories when it comes to sports. When people come together to compete and enjoy a game, they often give up a lot to win or to show up and support their team, but less often do they give up a lot for another team’s community.

This year all the teams in District 14c have elected to wear the same warm-up jerseys in support of a young local Hot Springs girl who has been diagnosed with a terminal brainstem tumor.

What began as a sore neck has become a devastating turn of events for the Salmi family.

On May 4, young Harlee Salmi, the daughter of Hot Springs residents Matt and Taylor Salmi, was diagnosed with brain cancer.

Harlee’s form of cancer is Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma.

It’s a rare form of brain cancer which starts as a small tumor at the back of the brain stem and effects many functions of the body.

Often times these effects include difficulties balancing and moving, facial weakness and drooping, issues with vision and eye movement as well as difuculty swallowing and eating. It only occurs in only about 10% of all child brain tumors and it is rarely curable.

The Salmi Family has spent thousands on medical care, travel expenses and everything else that comes with a situation like this.

For the Salmi family the experience has been a traumatic and devastating one, however the light in the tunnel comes from the community they live in.

What started as a couple Go-Fund-Me efforts and Facebook pages, became T-shirts and concerts to support young Harlee and her family.

The locals of not only Sanders County but from all over the West have turned up in support of the family and little Harlee.

The concert held back in June raised a tidy sum of money and the artist, Missoula native Sam Riddle, donated his time to Harlee’s cause. There has also been a bank account with the Valley bank set up to accept donations for Harlee.

Perhaps the most moving example of the charitable nature of the people of Sanders County has been that all the local girl’s high school volleyball teams of District 14c have decided that instead of wearing their colors for their warm-up attire they have donned the jersey bearing Harlee’s name and age to show their support.

It all grew from how Harlee’s mom, Taylor, was the junior varsity coach for Hot Springs’ volleyball and had to give that up to support her daughter.

The Hot Springs team designed a warmup shirt and asked if other teams in the district would participate. To their surprise no team turned them down.

Each game this season that Hot Springs plays they will take a photo with the other team, all wearing the shirts.

At the end of this season the district tournament will be held in Sanders County, at Noxon, and the team hopes to get a photo with all of the members of the district wearing those shirts.