FOUNTAIN, CO — Fountain-Fort Carson football standout and leukemia survivor, Myles McClarity was recently awarded a LLS Scholarship for Blood Cancer Survivors.
Out of 400 applicants, Myles was one of 105 selected to receive the scholarship. His essay tugged at the heartstrings of former Kansas City Chiefs DE and 2019 Super Bowl Champion, Alex Okafor.
"After that Super Bowl win, my mom got diagnosed with AML, acute myeloid leukemia and she ended up passing away from that," Okafor shared. "Ever since that happened, I just wanted to get involved and I wanted to be able to use all my resources to positively affect peoples' lives."
Working at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Okafor is part of the Survivor Scholarship Program which grants awards to cancer survivors. After reading Myles' essay, Alex was inspired and made it his mission to meet Myles and present the scholarship check in person.
"He definitely didn't disappoint," Okafor said after meeting Myles in the FFC gym. "He's an outstanding young man and I'm blessed to be in this position to be able to present that scholarship check to him."
Myles called the entire experience a blessing.
"For Alex to see my essay and out of everybody want to meet me, I'm really grateful," Myles said, "With his late mother, he gets it and he's seen what people like me go through."
In his essay, Myles wrote candidly about his cancer battle and how he helped others in similar situations along the way through his pay it forward movement, "Six Strong". Myles has raised money and awareness while giving back to families in need.
"For him to be in that situation and still thinking of ways to positively affect other people and not just thinking of himself, that really touched my heart and might have sealed the deal for me," Okafor smiled.
Myles was inspired by Alex's story too, and he hopes to follow in his footsteps both in football and with his foundation.
"He's an NFL player, that's obviously the dream," Myles said. "And hopefully I'll eventually have something like Alex has and reach thousands of people going through what I've gone through, that's just really important to me."
The scholarship money will go towards Myles' college fund, but first he is preparing to suit up for his final season with the Trojans this fall.
