Four days after cancer took the love of her life decades too soon, former Butler center Andrew Smith's wife summoned the strength to visit Hinkle Fieldhouse and address a heavy-hearted crowd.
Tears in her eyes and voice cracking with emotion, Samantha Smith explained that she and Andrew initially planned to attend Saturday's game together to thank Bulldogs fans for their support. Samantha chose to come anyway even after his death because it was important to her husband that she share that message in his absence.
"I'm here because it was important to him that you all knew how thankful we are for you guys," Samantha told the Butler crowd on a day in which the program sought to raise money for her through the sale of "Stay Positive" wristbands, T-shirts and posters.
"You guys will never know how much this community and this school has carried Andrew and myself through. ... The best part of our week was to look forward to [Butler] games and to watch them. Andrew loved Butler so much.
"The thing Andrew was most worried and scared about was leaving me. He would ask me, 'Who's going to take care of you? Who's going to take care of my wife?' And with all of your generosity, you're answering that question. You're saying, 'I am.'"
It was meaningful to Butler fans to hear Samantha speak because she has been their window into Andrew's struggles the past two years. As Andrew battled cancer, Samantha chronicled it on her blog, writing about everything from the horror of learning that her husband's cancer had returned, to the challenge of enduring chemotherapy and other treatments, to the joy of rare moments of normalcy watching Butler games together over pizza.
The hopeful tone of most of Samantha's posts vanished in December when she revealed revealed that the disease had morphed from lymphoma to an aggressive form of leukemia. Last week, she acknowledged doctors had told her there was "nothing left to do" and admitted the prospect of life without her 25-year-old husband was terrifying to her.
"He is afraid of death and I am afraid of life," Samantha wrote. "I’m afraid of life without Andrew Smith by my side as my spouse, my protector, my best friend, my everything."
Samantha's brief halftime speech was the most heartbreaking yet inspirational moment from a poignant day at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Twenty-third ranked Butler pounded last-place St. John's 78-58, but the outcome was secondary to the many tributes to Smith, a former three-year starter and member of the Bulldogs' 2010 and 2011 Final Four teams.
Butler players donned long-sleeved No. 44 shooting shirts while they warmed up and wore jerseys adorned with an "AS44" patch on their right shoulders. The school also played a moving tribute video before tip-off and held a moment of silence in Smith's honor immediately afterward.
 | @FOXSports | |
Butler honored Andrew Smith w/a touching video tribute before today's game at Hinkle Fieldhouse. #AndrewSmithStrong snpy.tv/1JR6b3v
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Butler coach Chris Holtman wore a No. 44 pin on the lapel of his suit during the game. He presented the game ball to Andrew Smith's father after the final buzzer.
 | @ButlerMBB | |
On behalf of the team, @ChrisHoltmann finds Andrew's Dad, @Butlerbigmanfan, and presents him the game ball pic.twitter.com/1jVn8oF4Tq
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At a timeout during the game, a Butler student won a year's supply of sandwiches for sinking a halfcourt shot. Tweeted Butler athletic director Barry Collier, "I think Andrew Smith guided
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