Sixers fan invited to ring the bell at Wells Fargo Center after viral video of last chemo treatment

Alex Trindle was just hoping the 76ers would like her tweet after her final chemotherapy treatment for stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma. She received much more.

The 23-year-old La Salle University student and Philadelphia resident finished more than six months of chemotherapy on April 28 and, as is the custom with many cancer patients, she rang the bell at the Abramson Cancer Center at Penn.

Later she tweeted a video of her bell-ringing on Twitter.

Since she was wearing a 76ers sweatshirt, Trindle was hoping the team would see her tweet and acknowledge it with a “like.”

“I had been doing this [chemotherapy] since October and I have been waiting for that day forever,” she said during a phone interview. “I was just hoping the Sixers would like it."

She went to bed shortly after sending the tweet and the next day, Trindle was stunned at the attention her video received.

“When I woke up the next day, it had blown up,” she said. “I was not expecting it whatsoever. The Sixers had retweeted it and the players were like tweeting at me and some other sports [people] had posted it, too, and so many people had seen it.”

More than 602,000 have seen the tweet. Among the Sixers to tweet encouragement were Tobias Harris, Ben Simmons, and Furkan Korkmaz.

The Sixers team also sent out this note: “you’re right, this is iconic.”

The surprises kept coming.

Within about 10 minutes after Trindle sent out her bell-ringing tweet, Sixers president Chris Heck went on Twitter and offered her the opportunity to ring the bell before a future game.

Before every home game, the Sixers as a tradition, have a special guest, often a celebrity, ring the bell.

“When she was wearing the Sixers sweatshirt and she had mentioned, ‘I am ringing the bell,’ it obviously struck a chord with all of us and we loved it, and we are happy to be part of her victory,” Heck said in a phone interview.

Trindle is obviously ecstatic to once again have the chance to ring a bell, this time at the Wells Fargo Center.

“That is going to be one of the coolest things I have ever done,” she said about ringing the bell. “I am really excited for that.”

Since her final treatment, Trindle was asked to do a Zoom interview with Sixers.com. In the middle of the interview, a surprise guest appeared – Sixers forward Mike Scott, who offered her encouragement.

“That was so cool for him to do that,” Trindle said.

Scott spoke from the heart during his appearance.

“That is a positive thing and inspired a lot of people to see you do that, and that touched me,” he told Trindle.

Not only did Scott offer words of encouragement, but he also reaffirmed the offer that the team previously made to ring the bell before the game. In addition, Scott also extended an offer for her to come into the locker room afterward and ring another bell.

After every home win, the Sixers have the player of the game ring a bell in the locker room. The Sixers have had plenty of experience ringing the postgame bell since they are 29-2 this season at home.

“That is really an incredible offer,” Trindle said about the postgame ringing.

Heck says the team plans to break tradition by having her come into the locker room after the game.

“We don’t let anyone in the locker room, but for this case, we will,” Heck said. “Some things are bigger than all of us, and we think this is one of them.”