How Vanderbilt Football Became Part of Landon Binkley’s Fight
As Ashley Binkley stood beside her son’s hospital bed on Nov. 21, 2023, it was a ventilator doing most of his breathing. The then 7-year-old Landon had contracted respiratory syncytial virus(RSV), an illness that typically causes little more than just common cold symptoms.
But for Landon, nothing has ever been typical. And for the first time, as Ashley stood at his bedside trying to stay strong, a fear she had long pushed aside became impossible to ignore: her son might never wake up.
That moment may have been the scariest chapter of Landon’s young life, but it wasn’t the beginning of his story.
That story began nearly eight years earlier, when Landon was born premature at just 24 weeks gestation, weighing one pound and two ounces. He spent the first 103 days of his life in Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit, beginning a childhood shaped by hospital rooms, tubes, and the constant uncertainty of what the next hour, day, and week might bring.
Doctors soon discovered that Landon had developed chronic lung disease as a result of his premature birth, forcing him to remain on oxygen until he was 18 months old — quite literally fighting for every last breath. As if that weren’t enough for one child to deal with, Landon was also diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and struggles with swallowing and stomach processing that still require him to be fed through a tube for 16 hours each day.
Landon has been in and out of children's hospitals ever since infancy. For the first several years of his life, he often contracted illnesses linked to his immune deficiency, forcing him to spend weeks on end in the hospital. Now, he receives infusions for those immune deficiencies every three weeks and additional infusions for his IBD every four weeks, placing him in the hospital frequently — even when he’s otherwise doing well.
“A lot of times [Landon and I] don't really notice it because it's something that's become so normalized,” Ashley told Vandy OnSI. “But whenever we go to the hospital, or whenever I talk about it, I'm like, ‘Oh, wait, this is not normal to other people.”
When it finally seemed like Ashley and her son had settled into a routine, trauma struck again.
Landon had contracted RSV and was placed on a ventilator, where he remained for 28 days. Two unsuccessful attempts to remove him from the ventilator led to a collapsed lung and repeated intubation, only intensifying his mom’s fear.
A single mother raising an only child, Ashley found herself confronting the most violent reality she’d ever faced. For what felt like forever, it had just been the two of them navigating hospital rooms, doctor’s appointments, long nights, and early mornings. Every part of her life revolved around her son. He was her purpose; the reason she got out of bed each morning. So, as Landon lay sedated in the ICU, the thought of losing him was unbearable. If she lost her son, she’d lose the centerpiece of her entire world.
“I remember this doctor sitting me down and saying, ‘I need you to know that we’re doing everything we can for your son, but I also need you to know how sick he is,’” Ashley said. “And I just remember in that moment telling him, ‘This is my child. I don’t know what else to do. This is who I have, and this is who I live for.’”
Landon’s been placed on a ventilator. Please pray and share with everyone to pray. I cannot lose my child. Please please pray. pic.twitter.com/4vPgGYaVCP
— Ashley (@ashbinks2588) November 21, 2023
It was a moment that stripped everything down to its most genuine and raw form. It was a parent thinking not in terms of medical terms and probabilities, but as a single mother who had spent years fighting alongside her son and building an entire life around protecting him. It was also a harsh and cold reminder that she had no control over what happened next.
Still, Ashley turned to faith.
“I have to turn back to God and become closer with God,” Ashley said. “To just have something to focus on, outside of just caretaking and loving my child. I have to remind myself that my hope is in God and that he's in control, and I have to kind of relinquish that control.”
Slowly, Landon began to recover. He was finally taken off the ventilator after nearly a month, spending another 27 days in the ICU before being transferred to Atlanta’s Children Hospital for another three weeks of rehab, where he relearned how to walk.
At the time, Vanderbilt did not have an impatient pediatric rehabilitation facility for Landon to recover at. It is now in the process of building one — an initiative supported by Ashley, Vanderbilt University, and the Football Program. Ashley hopes that people will consider donating to help kids like Landon.
“[That project] is really special to us,” Ashley said. “We had to leave Tennessee in order to get him better, and so those three weeks were hard for us when we were gone. That's what they're working on, which is really amazing that you've got these student athletes who are out competing, but they're also giving back too.”
Now 9 years old, Landon is doing better, attending his second-grade classes regularly and enjoying what it means to be a kid. He has good days and bad days — just like all of us — though his experiences offer a powerful reminder of perspective.
“There are some days where he’s just like, ‘Mom, I really wish that I had a different body,’” Ashley said. “The days where those things don't come up and he just feels like a normal kid are the best.”
Because beyond the feeding tubes and medical conditions, there exists a sweet, outgoing, boy who loves meeting and talking to people — especially adults, something his mom suspects comes from being by them in hospitals for so much of his life. Staff members at Landon’s elementary school describe him as the school’s “mayor” because of his energy and warmth. He loves Disney, U.S. History, and, most of all, he loves football. Vanderbilt football.
That fandom began when Landon was much younger and attended games through a local nonprofit called HopeKids, which provided tickets to the Binkley family to see Commodore Baseball and Football games. The pair quickly fell in love with Black and Gold, regularly attending the university’s sporting events whenever they could.
Friday soon became Landon’s favorite day of the week. It was the day he typically received infusions, but it was also the day Vanderbilt football players visited the children’s hospital to meet sick children — a powerful act of community outreach that’s become a routine for the program. Each Friday before home games, the hospital’s Seacrest Studio — which Ashley described as a space resembling an expanded recording studio — holds a pep rally featuring players, cheerleaders, and Mr. C, creating an environment of energy and escape for hospitalized children.
With Landon’s infectious personality, outgoing nature, and love of football, it didn’t take long for him to stand out.
"Landon’s a special kid,” Vanderbilt safety Marlen Sewell told Vandy OnSI. “No matter what he’s going through, he’s energetic, he loves the game, and he loves being around not just me, but the whole team. “I think that's just special, and for me, it’s inspiring to see somebody going through more than things that we are and still having his amount of energy and amount of passion. I just love that about him.”
That feeling was reciprocated. Landon first met Sewell, quarterback Diego Pavia, and others early last season during one of those Friday hospital visits, a day that stuck with the boy long after the players left the building. To Landon, these weren’t just athletes in uniform. They were role models that remembered his name, talked football with him, and made him feel like more than just a hospital patient.
“It just gives him the ability to almost forget, in a way,” Ashley said. “It's truly been incredible. There have been so many moments where I have just teared up seeing how much the [players] care and how sweet they are.”
Landon’s connection with the program has extended far beyond the hospital. Earlier this season, as part of the Dancing ‘Dores program, Landon and fellow miracle kid Cambree Dunn were honored both during the Star Walk and on the field, kicking off the annual fundraiser for the Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital.
“Each child who is an ambassador for the program got to be a part of a team, and Landon chose football,” Ashley said. “So, they honored him during one of the timeouts, and they talked about the program. That was that was an incredible experience for him and for myself.”
Telling the players all the things of course ❤️. Honored on the field as a miracle kid. @VandyFootball @VUMCchildren pic.twitter.com/WkZykWrVnA
— Ashley (@ashbinks2588) September 27, 2025
When College GameDay came to town in Week 9 for Vanderbilt’s matchup with Missouri, Landon — like many other Commodore fans — knew he couldn’t miss it. Standing in the middle of the crowd, Vanderbilt’s students took turns lifting Landon onto their shoulders so he could see above the sea of people. There, he held up a handmade sign that read “Vandy plays for kids like me.”
Even more special was what came next.
The Friday before Vanderbilt’s game against Auburn, the Binkley family was invited to attend the team’s practice at McGugin Center. After practice concluded, head coach Clark Lea carved out time for Ashley to address the team, introducing herself and Landon and sharing their story. Then, led by tight end Eli Stowers — who has been extremely vocal about the importance of faith in his life — the entire team gathered around Landon and prayed for him. They also sang him a belated rendition of “Happy Birthday,” which was a few days earlier.
“The players were just amazing,” Ashley said. “I can't say enough about how kind and caring everyone at Vanderbilt has been since we've met them, since we've come in contact with players and staff and just everyone. And so, after practice, Landon got to play with Pavia for a little bit, and it was so sweet. He later ran for a touchdown, and he celebrated. Pavia picked him up so he could celebrate.”
While playing catch, Landon — perhaps smarter than he initially lets on — snuck in a comment about Saturday’s game against Auburn being sold out, casting a hopeful glance toward Pavia. That was all the Heisman Trophy runner-up needed to hear. The Binkley's left McGugin Center with two tickets to FirstBank Stadium for the following day. To cap it off, the team presented Landon with a helmet signed by the entire roster — a gift his mother jokes he has barely taken off since. Landon repaid Pavia and the Commodores by showing up and cheering loud the next day, and later by advocating for the quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy.
Landon has a special message for the @HeismanTrophy committee from @VUMCchildren. #2Turnt https://t.co/iqqMrB60l6 pic.twitter.com/8vCJ3ncYCH
— Ashley (@ashbinks2588) December 7, 2025
After that day at practice and a few more Friday hospital visits, Landon formed extremely tight bonds with Sewell and center Jordan White. White often sat with Landon in the Seacrest Studio, playing the new College Football video game alongside him. Few things bring Landon more joy than seeing his new friends represented on the screen.
“He said to me ‘Mom, that's the guy who hikes the ball to Pavia,” Ashley said. He loved getting to know [White] and he loved [playing that game with him].”
In many ways, the impact Vanderbilt football has had on Landon’s life can’t be measured in game-day memorabilia, autographs, and tickets. Instead, it lives in quieter places. It lives in the way hospital days feel shorter, in the added excitement that comes with hospital visits, and in the way a sick 9-year-old boy lights up when he sees familiar faces walking through the doors of the children's hospital. In a childhood shaped by uncertainty, Landon’s relationships with Vanderbilt football have brought him normalcy.
For Ashley, that presence has carried her through moments when control felt impossible.
“I have to remind myself that my hope is in God and that he's in control,” she said. “I have to kind of relinquish that control, just not knowing what's going to happen and caring for him the best I can, but also knowing that I don't know what the future holds.”
At the end of the day, Landon’s childhood is a story not of illness and hardship. It’s a story of resilience and joy, of a child who’s endured more than most — yet still finds a reason to smile. It’s also a reflection of the impact an athletic program can have when it chooses to invest beyond the field.
“We're for the community,” Sewell said. “We're taking care of our people, and we're looking out for the people who look out for us. Being able to go there on Fridays and brighten up the kids’ days, I think that's very enlightening. on children of that age — we’re basically their heroes.”
Vanderbilt football has become part of Landon’s story not because of wins or losses, but because of humanity. For a boy who’s spent much of his life fighting for the next day, perhaps the greatest victory is knowing he doesn’t have to fight it alone.
Dylan Tovitz is a sophomore at Vanderbilt University, originally from Livingston, New Jersey. In addition to writing for Vanderbilt on SI, he serves as a deputy sports editor for the Vanderbilt Hustler and co-produces and hosts ‘Dores Unlocked, a weekly video show about Commodore sports. Outside the newsroom, he is a campus tour guide and an avid New York sports fan with a particular passion for baseball. He also enjoys listening to country and classic rock music and staying active through tennis and baseball.