Bravery and perseverance are the bread and butter of sports features.
We herald players for playing through pain, overcoming impossible odds and making personal sacrifices for their team. We lionize Willis Reed for limping through the tunnel at Madison Square Garden and Michael Jordan for scoring 38 points with the flu and Bobby Baun for making the winning goal with a broken leg.
Not every portrait of courage under pressure takes place in an arena, however. Some take place in a hospital emergency room with two grieving parents deciding to tell the truth, deciding to go public with their personal nightmare in an attempt to spare others their pain.