May 06 2008
Read at your own risk with a tissue!
The 18-year-old kid dying of cancer gets his wish, a chance to swing a bat maybe one last time in a real baseball game. He hasn’t played in a few years, but he’s called on to pinch-hit. His eyes light up at the first pitch and he puts all of his 5-foot-5, 93-pound frame into one mighty swing, making contact and sending a line drive into right field for a single — if he can reach first base. The cancer he’s been battling for almost two years has spread to his pelvis, making running nearly impossible.
The kid worries about falling as he hustles down the first-base line. When he gets to the base, he lets out with a yell. “I did it! I did it!”
Safe at first with a hit and an RBI, the kid is hugged by a crying first-base coach. The opposing pitcher takes off his glove, starts applauding and his teammates follow suit. The kid’s teammates run onto the field to celebrate. It sounds like the climax to a heart-tugger movie. But there was no producer or film crew at the game between Freedom and Aliquippa high schools two weeks ago. The scene was as real as the tumors in John Challis’ liver and lungs.
John is a kid with cancer, a senior at Freedom in Beaver County who was told a few weeks ago by doctors that cancer was winning and it was close to the end. The disease that started in his liver was now taking over his lungs.
“They said it could be only two months,” he said, fighting back tears.
He paused before his seemingly never-ending optimism came through again.
“I told my mom I still think I can get two more years.”
But his story isn’t about dying. It’s about inspiring.
“I used to be afraid, but I’m not afraid of dying now, if that’s what you want to know,” he said. “Because life ain’t about how many breaths you take. It’s what you do with those breaths.”
“Sometimes I cry, but people cry for all different kinds of reasons,” he said. “Sometimes I just want to know why, but I think I figured that out. God wanted me to get sick because he knew I was strong enough to handle it. I’m spreading His word and my message. By doing that, I’m doing what God put me here to do.
Read about it here.
[From me]
Wow! Puts life into perspective. BTW, thats not tears, my allergies are bothering me!
3 responses so far
Pass those tissues, Kevin. My allergies are bothering me, too!
Quinn Hooks’s last blog post..Do you JOTT?
Praise the Lord for this young man and his faithfulness! What a privilege for his friends and family to experience his confidence in his Heavenly Father.
Thanks for sharing that Kevin!
Camey’s last blog post..“It Will Only Strengthen Us.”