Family of die-hard Rams fan who survived cancer working to send him to Super Bowl: 'He deserves it'
On his last day of chemotherapy, he even left the hospital in full Rams gear.
WEST COVINA, Calif. (KABC) -- Donald Jimenez lives and breathes Rams football, and when the team beat the San Francisco 49ers for a spot in the Super Bowl, you can bet he was yelling louder than anyone else.
"It's been going on forever, since I was a kid," said Jimenez. "Even in grade school, I was always a Rams fan. There's a lot of people that I went to grade school with that remember that I was always a Rams fan."
Dressed in head to toe Rams gear - including a customized jersey - Jimenez said the team has helped him through some tough times. Including one of the toughest he's ever endured.
Jimenez was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2016 and is now cancer free. He said even during those dark days, his team spirit shined through.
On his last day of chemotherapy, he left the hospital in Rams gear.
"I mean that's pretty much my outfit," said Jimenez. "When you look at my closet ... blue and gold."
It's that kind of loyalty his stepdaughter - Alissa Villa - believes deserves a reward. So she's taken matters into her own hands.
"He just deserves it," she said. "I was like, 'Is he going?' and they were like, 'No, (the tickets) are really expensive.' I'm like, 'He has to go.' There was a whole team of softball girls that are behind me believing that he has to go.'"
She created a GoFundMe to help her stepfather go to the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium.
If her plan works, Donald Jimenez - the die-hard Rams fan who didn't let cancer bring him down - will get to see his team play, and hopefully, win.
Correction: A previous version of this story named the wrong team that played in the NFC Championship game against the Rams. A previous version also stated Donald's last name was Villa. The story has since been updated.
