Keeping family together is incredibly important for some people. One 21-year-old college football player, Armorion Smith, is honoring his commitment to his family as he steps in to become the legal guardian of his four younger siblings, who are between the ages of 16 and 2. Their mother recently died after a two-year battle with metastatic breast cancer, and there was no father in the picture.
The siblings live in Michigan, where the young man is a student athlete at Michigan State. He is determined to keep his family together, and it looks like their community is supporting them.
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He understands the pressure he's under all too well.
Speaking with the Associated Press, Smith said wearily, “My cards were given to me. I didn’t choose my deck of cards.”
As a child growing up in Detroit, Smith experienced homelessness and constantly house-hopping to find places to sleep. After being a three-star prospect at River Rouge High School, he attended the University of Cincinnati for two years. His mother’s 2022 cancer diagnosis led him to transfer to Michigan State to be closer to his family.
His mother fought cancer for two years.
Smith’s mother, Gala Gilliam’s metastatic breast cancer diagnosis came in October 2022. According to a GoFundMe set up for the family, after Gilliam’s diagnosis she had “2 major surgeries and many setbacks, including blood clots, infections, and a decline in her daily function due to the progression of her cancer, which has majorly affected her liver function.”
Family friends set up the GoFundMe during Gilliam’s cancer treatment. Her oncologist had “given her 3-6 months to live since the cancer has metastasized to her bones and most recently her liver.” Gilliam died in August 2024, leaving behind six children.
Smith's life changed forever after his mother's death.
“I was broken,” Smith told NBC affiliate WILX in an interview about learning of his mother’s cancer diagnosis. “I was lost. I didn’t know what to do.”
“I always told her since I was a child,” he added. “‘No matter what I do, whatever opportunity I get, I’m gonna take it, and I’m gonna make the best of out it, so I can put you in a position where you don’t have to worry about nothing,'” he told her.
Keeping everyone together is a family affair.
According to AP, Smith gained legal guardianship of his four younger siblings, Armond, 16, Avaugn, 15, Arial, 11, and Amaira, 2. His 19-year-old sister Aleion helps him and is the primary caretaker while Smith takes classes in criminal justice and plays football.
“Me and my sister got to work together to keep this all afloat,” Smith told the outlet. “While I’m in college sports, she’s got to be able to take care of everything that I can’t do, like pick up where I left off, while I’m taking care of business.”
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The family is being set up for success.
As of September 24, the GoFundMe had raised over $100,000 of its $200,000 goal. Michigan State’s student assistance fund has also provided the family with help. “It’s really a blessing,” Smith told WILX. “I genuine appreciate the Spartan Nation and their help and their support.”
