Pillars of Strength: Byrnes community comes together for Lori, Olivia Brockman

Lori Brockman (bottom left) made it to her daughter Olivia’s basketball game for the first time this season on Friday, Feb. 7 — senior night at Byrnes High School. The Lady Rebels pulled out a dramatic 66-63 overtime win over rival Dorman. (PHOTO | SPARTANBURG DISTRICT FIVE SCHOOLS)

When Byrnes senior basketball player Olivia Brockman looked out into the stands Friday night, she noticed something she hadn’t seen at one of her games in a long time.

Olivia saw the smiling face of her mother, Lori.

Lori Brockman has had little to smile about these last seven months. In August 2024, Lori was diagnosed with Burkitt Lymphoma, an aggressive, rare form of blood cancer more commonly seen in children and teens. Following her diagnosis, Lori was hospitalized for over four months — until late December 2024.

“I finished working one night [as a nurse], and my heart was completely racing,” said Lori. “I had been having strange pain in my back and numbness in my right arm for a couple of months, but I hadn’t thought much of it. I asked Olivia to count my heartbeats that night, though, and I was at around 130 BPM. 

“I went to the hospital to get looked at, and when they ran a CT scan on me, they found lesions all over. They decided to do a biopsy, and not long after, that’s when they diagnosed me with Burkitt Lymphoma.”

Beaming from her wheelchair on Friday night — watching Olivia play basketball in person for the first time in almost a year — Lori felt the touch of normalcy for the first time in seemingly forever.

She saw her daughter doing what she loved.

It meant everything to Olivia. 

“My mom is our rock,” said Olivia. “She is everything to our family. She’s my inspiration and my motivator. This year was the first year where she hasn’t really been able to come to my basketball games. That has shaken me up a lot. But she surprised me by being here tonight. That meant the world to me.”

Lori Brockman with her four children on senior night —(from left to right) Peyton, Aaliyah, Olivia, and Colin.

It was senior night at Byrnes. Lori — who rarely missed any of her four children’s sporting events before her diagnosis — was rolled onto the floor with Olivia to roars and cheers. 

The Byrnes community has followed her story, lending countless helping hands along the way. Community members have consistently provided the family with meals while Lori was in the hospital. They’ve provided gas cards and other gift cards to Olivia and Peyton, her sister. Folks in Duncan set up a GoFundMe for Lori’s care back in August. Olivia’s basketball team came together to make a gift basket for Lori while she was in the hospital.

Just this month, the Byrnes basketball community raised over $1,000 to give to the family through $1 half-court shots, raffle drawings, and several community sponsor restaurants and businesses.

“Times like this make me really proud to be a part of this community,” said Byrnes girls basketball head coach Missy Fowler. “People really stepped up for this amazing family.”

Fowler has seen firsthand the mental toll the situation has taken on Olivia this season. Still, she says, Olivia remains “a pillar of strength.”

“Even through everything that [Olivia] is dealing with and the worry that she has, she comes to school and practice every day with a smile,” said Fowler. “She’s demonstrated to everybody what strength is, and that you have to keep going no matter what your circumstances are.”

And though circumstances remain tough, there’s little doubt that Olivia will keep smiling and pushing through them — just like Lori does every day. Lori is now through four of her six rounds of chemotherapy.

The support of the community — and non-stop prayer — keep both daughter and mother powering forward.

“Being able to know that we have so many people helping take care of us, that’s really helped,” said Olivia. “The people here have been so kind to us. We’re all so thankful… we didn’t realize how many people were inspired by my mom’s story. But now, we definitely realize it.”

“I know that there are so many people praying for me and doing whatever it takes to provide during this period,” said Lori. “That’s what I lean on. None of this has been easy, but knowing so many people are in our corner, that’s what keeps me uplifted.”